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1. A Newspaper Editor's Silence in Court: The Lugrin Libel Trial

   C. H. Lugrin, managing editor of the Seattle Telegraph, rested his defense without calling witnesses in a libel trial brought by Police Chief Rogers. The case now goes to the jury.

   Aug 10, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

2. A Wife's Testimony Was Enough: Supreme Court Reverses Divorce Denial

   The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a wife's own account of cruelty and habitual drunkenness could justify a divorce, reversing a lower court that had dismissed Nellie Lee's case.

   Dec 11, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyScandal

3. The Judge, the Stenographer, and the $2,000 Bill the County Refused to Pay

   A Yakima County water-rights trial dragged on for weeks. When the judge tried to stick taxpayers with the stenographer's tab, the state Supreme Court stepped in and said no.

   Mar 14, 1892The Olympia TribuneYakima, Yakima CountyCity Hall

4. The Receiver Cut Their Pay 2 Cents an Hour. A Judge Made Him Put It Back.

   When the Rainier Avenue Electric Railway's court-appointed receiver trimmed motormen's wages from 20 cents to 18 cents an hour, the crews — months behind on pay, with houses in Columbia City bought out of their own wages — took him to court and won.

   Apr 18, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · City Hall

5. The Court-Martial That Laughed Up Its Sleeve

   In closed sessions at Olympia, Col. J. C. Haines faces charges of foul and abusive language—but his supporters say the fix is already in.

   Nov 6, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Scandal

6. The Judge Who Gambled Away His Office: Soderberg’s Dramatic Resignation

   After the grand jury returned five indictments for extortion and malfeasance in office, District Attorney Joseph Soderberg walked into court, tendered his resignation, and declared he would repay every illegal fee to the county treasury.

   Jun 14, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerKing County Courthouse, SeattleCity Hall · True Crime

7. The Judge, the Revolver, and the Impeachment Petition

   A former judge tells Olympia that Judge W. W. Langhorne drinks on the bench, bullies lawyers, and has threatened to shoot him — and asks the House to remove him.

   Feb 20, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Scandal

8. Jailed for a Malicious Complaint, Freed by the State Supreme Court

   A Pierce County jury found George Locke not guilty and decided his accuser, Leonard Permstick, had complained maliciously. The court ordered Permstick to pay $275.85 in costs or stay in jail—until the Washington Supreme Court ruled the commitment void.

   Mar 3, 1892The Olympia TribunePierce County Jail, TacomaCity Hall

9. The Judge Who Was Both Defendant and Accused

   In a stunning legal double-header, Judge Wickersham is convicted of seduction in one court, then immediately indicted for perjury by the federal grand jury in the very same day.

   Feb 27, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Scandal

10. The Hatch Heirs' Victory: A Seattle Attorney Wins Half of a $400,000 Everett Tract

    A federal appeals court upholds the rights of the children of Ezra Hatch—a Mexican War veteran who married an Indian woman—to 128 acres in the heart of Everett, and their lawyer, A.D. Warner, takes home half.

    May 7, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerHewitt Avenue, Everett, Snohomish CountyFollow the Money · Scandal

11. Newport Offers Its Town Hall to Win a Court of Its Own

    A petition to split Stevens County into judicial districts asks the county commissioners to hold court in Newport—with the town promising free rooms, offices, and a jail.

    Apr 29, 1909The Newport Miner (Newport, WA) 1899-CurrentNewport Town Hall, NewportCity Hall

12. The Murder That Made Washington Decide Who Counted as Tribal

    In 1903 the state Supreme Court upheld Tommy Santiago Howard's manslaughter conviction for killing Kate Arquette on the Puyallup Reservation, ruling that because he had no tribal ties, state court—not federal court—had jurisdiction.

    Nov 30, 1903The Evening StatesmanPuyallup Indian Reservation, Tacoma, Pierce CountyExclusion & Resistance · True Crime

13. The Bear That Wasn't: Seattle’s War Department Scandal

    A federal court of inquiry clears the city of corruption but exposes a bizarre military blunder involving refrigerated beef and embalmed meat during the Spanish-American War.

    May 8, 1899The Seattle StarSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Scandal

14. A One-Man Supreme Court: Olympia Weighs 500 Cases and 16-Hour Reading Days

    A legislative investigation hears that Washington’s high court has misstated facts and been crushed by its workload — with one justice sometimes reading an entire case alone.

    Jul 15, 1909The Newport Miner (Newport, WA) 1899-CurrentOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

15. Seven Votes Decide an Office: The Ballots Are 'Indescribable'

    A contested Seattle election heads to the state supreme court, where a recount has whittled a 78-vote plurality down to seven — and counsel warns that some ballots defy description.

    May 18, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

16. A Judge Tells Spokane's Restaurant Men Their Strike Injunction Is Worthless

    Judge J. Stanley Webster refused to restrain the cooks' and waiters' union, upheld the right to strike and to publish 'union house' cards — a rare courtroom win for organized labor in 1910.

    Jul 22, 1910The Labor JournalSpokane, Spokane CountyWork & Pay

17. 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.

    Mar 15, 1892The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

18. 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.

    Jan 24, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

19. The Guard Mutinied Over a Railroad Strike

    A 1894 court of inquiry found Tacoma’s Company G guilty of mutiny, cashiered a captain who surrendered to strikers at Sprague, and exposed a forged strike-edition letter.

    Sep 16, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyWork & Pay · City Hall

20. A Widow’s Two Wills, a Husband’s Challenge, and a Fortune Tied to Seattle

    Dr. Aaron Baldwin contests the estate of Lena Shay Baldwin, arguing that property left to her Seattle siblings was really his—and that the case belongs in Washington, D.C., not King County.

    Apr 3, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSuperior Court of Washington for King County, SeattleScandal

21. The High Court Kills Newport's Court District, and Eastern Stevens County Is Told to Go It Alone

    Washington's Supreme Court struck down the law that let Superior Court sit outside county seats, wiping out Newport's new judicial district and sending local litigants back down the road to Colville — unless the county itself can be split in two.

    Aug 5, 1909The Newport Miner (Newport, WA) 1899-CurrentNewport, Pend Oreille CountyBoom & Bust · City Hall

22. The Fight to Save Nordstrom: Money, Friends, and a Legal Race Against the Noose

    Convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, C. Nordstrom finds a network of supporters—including the Swedish consul—raising funds for a last-ditch appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Aug 17, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

23. A Court-Martial Ends in Smoke and a Handshake

    A state militia tribunal in Olympia was suddenly closed by the governor, its findings kept secret. Then the colonel apologized, the officers shook hands, and the state got a $1,000 bill.

    Nov 9, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Scandal

24. The Judge Who Refused to Step Aside

    In Thurston County court, Judge Robinson denies a change of venue in the Minkler case, rejecting claims that county prejudice or a newspaper feud had compromised him.

    Jan 5, 1892The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

25. Fifty Murders, Not One Hanging: Seattle Puts Its Courts on Trial

    A Post-Intelligencer editorial argues that endless technical appeals have made King County a place where killers walk free — and warns that the resulting public fury is the courts' own fault.

    Sep 1, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

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