The Fight for Washington’s Courts
Eastern Washington leaders protest a state court division scheme they claim would favor Seattle and Tacoma at the expense of local attorneys.
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.
Secretary John H. McDonald of the Commercial Club is in receipt of resolutions adopted by the Spokane Chamber of Commerce protesting the proposed division of the state into two United States court districts. The resolutions set forth that an attempt is being made to create northern and southern districts by an imaginary line cutting the state from west to east between Seattle and Tacoma. This configuration would place two federal judges within 30 miles of each other, forcing law-wears of Eastern Washington to travel over 400 miles across the Cascade Mountains to reach a judge. The Chamber argues that an eastern and western district—divided by the natural boundary of the Cascades—would be more equitable. The Walla Walla Commercial Club has been asked to adopt resolutions supporting this protest against the northern and southern division scheme.
“The law-wears of Eastern Washington would be compelled to travel over 400 miles across the Cascade mountain range in order to reach the judge.”
The tension between the Puget Sound urban corridor and the interior of the state remains a central theme in Washington politics. While the court districts were long ago settled, the debate over how resources and legal representation are distributed across the Cascades continues to drive regional identity and civic conflict.
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