The Corruption of the Bench
A scathing look at alleged corporate influence over the Washington State Supreme Court and the systemic capture of justice.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The supreme court of the state of Washington just about a year ago heard and decided a damage suit (Harris vs. the Great Northern Railway company). They decided it against the company. The railroad paid the amount of the judgment—about $1,400. They didn't mind that much money, but they went to work to guard against ever losing a similar suit. Their Spokane attorney, M.J. Gordon, carefully prepared another opinion, changing the law as previously laid down by the court. This opinion he sent to the head office of the Great Northern company in Minneapolis. There it was carefully read by the chief counsel of the railroad, W.R. Begg, and by him approved as an opinion which, if once inserted in the law books, would safeguard the railroad against ever again losing a damage suit like the Harris one. Begg, the chief counsel, having approved the opinion, sent it back to Gordon, the local Great Northern attorney in Spokane. Gordon then carried the opinion to his close friend, Judge Milo A. Root, who had written the first opinion in the Harris case, and got Judge Root to substitute the opinion which the railroad attorney had prepared. Judge Root subsequently admitted this, and all the facts are established by correspondence and evidence in the possession of the State Bar association.
“One purchased decision makes the law for future generations. That is the way courts work—one final decision is binding upon all the judges in the same state.”
This 1909 investigation into 'corporate control of the courts' highlights a recurring American anxiety regarding the impartiality of the judiciary when facing powerful monied interests. It mirrors current discussions about judicial ethics and the influence of lobby-funded litigation on public policy.
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