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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 8 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 8 |
| 1891 | 12 |
| 1892 | 24 |
| 1893 | 22 |
| 1894 | 34 |
| 1895 | 26 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
182 stories matching writ
- The Fight for Hattie Graham
A teenager locked away in the House of the Good Shepherd finds herself at the center of a legal and domestic tug-of-war.
- The Long Shadow of Martial Law
A lawsuit reaches the district court regarding the 1886 Seattle anti-Chinese riots and the suspension of civil rights.
- The Custody Battle of a 'Simple-Minded' Girl
A teenager’s mother and a Catholic institution square off in a Seattle courtroom, revealing a tragic cycle of poverty, abuse, and parental abandonment.
- The Political Orator Who Was a Wanted Man
L.E. Wilson, a fiery People’s Party speaker in Lewis County, was unmasked as a fugitive and serial bigamist.
- The Great Cigarette Crackdown
A Vancouver tobacco dealer’s arrest triggers a high-stakes legal battle over whether small cigarette packages qualify for interstate commerce protections.
- The Saloon at the Race Track
A legal battle over liquor licenses in the Duwamish precinct reveals the limits of civic power when faced with the relentless machinery of the law.
- The Sea-Law Rebellion: How Seattle Sailors Won Their Freedom
Ten seamen who fled the ship Alex Gibson were ordered held by a commissioner, but a sharp legal maneuver centered on maritime labor law secured their release.
- The Wharf King’s Victory: Yesler Wins Millions in Land Battle
Judge Lichtenberg rules that the state cannot seize waterfront property without paying just compensation, halting the Harbor Line Commission and protecting H.L. Yesler’s empire.
- A Wife’s Revenge Against a Craps-Playing Husband
An angry spouse leads a constable to raid a gambling den to recover stolen household money.
- The Industrial Army vs. The Marshals
Federal authorities in Seattle are intercepting freight trains to prevent 'Commonwealers' from riding the rails toward Washington, D.C.
- The Supreme Court Stops a Judge From Sending Yakima County the Stenographer’s Bill
A superior court judge tried to force the county treasury to pay for trial transcripts. The state Supreme Court said no—and used a rare writ to stop the warrants before they became county debt.
- Martial Law Prisoners Released
Following the cessation of martial law in Seattle, three men previously jailed for seditious language are released without bail.
- A Merchant's Fight for Entry
A Chinese merchant detained on the steamship Mogul challenges his exclusion in Federal court.
- The Lawyer Who Bombed City Hall With a Piece of Paper
Attorney John Wiley served the Seattle city council a superior-court writ of prohibition mid-hearing on the Masel case, freezing the proceedings and leaving the aldermen sputtering in their chairs.
- The Housekeeper's Revenge
A Seattle gunsmith returns home to find his entire household cleared out by his disgruntled housekeeper, setting off a local legal tug-of-war.
- Legal Resistance to Deportation
Attorney Marshall K. Snell challenges the illegal detention of three Chinese merchants by federal authorities in Tacoma.
- The Street Hawker's Stand Against Discriminatory Laws
When a Chinese produce seller was arrested for violating city peddling ordinances, he challenged the legality of a law targeting his livelihood all the way to the Chief Justice's chambers.
- The Colonel, The Schoolmaster, and the Writ of Mandamus
When a Seattle teacher enforced a strict attendance policy, a local parent sued to force the school to readmit his son. The Chief Justice’s ruling settled a tug-of-war over authority that echoes in modern classrooms.
- The High Cost of City Growth
When an ambitious land company faced a revolt over unfair property assessments in 1889, it revealed the messy reality of building Seattle from the ground up.
- The State Supreme Court Shuts Down Bremerton Saloons
The high court denies a plea to keep saloons operating, marking a legislative victory over the liquor trade.
- The Kidnapping of the Kerr Child: A Battle for Custody and Morality
Charles L. Kerr and his new wife Viola Bell Thorndyke are accused of snatching an infant from a boat in Seattle, sparking a legal war over whether the child will be raised by her father or placed in a home deemed 'proper.'
- Court Opens Salmon Bay to Harbor-Line Rules
The state Supreme Court reverses a lower-court writ and lets harbor line commissioners regulate Salmon Bay—even though the bay nearly drains at low tide—because Puget Sound freight boats still use it at high water.
- A Bank President’s Arrest Leads to a Habeas Corpus Fight
Dr. W. P. Book, former president of the failed Aberdeen bank, is arrested in Seattle and released on $2,000 bond while his lawyers challenge the case.
- The Lawyer's Stranglehold on Governance
A scathing editorial arguing that the legal profession’s devotion to precedent over progress is choking American democracy.
- The Rules of Law in Territorial Washington
A comprehensive look at the legal framework governing property disputes, mortgage foreclosures, and individual liberty in 1854.