Archived Version: November 7, 2006
An information resource for Washington voters
Centralia Chronicle
Endorsements
Johnson, Alexander win endorsements
Monday, August 28, 2006 — The Chronicle editorial board begins here its recommendations to the voters on candidates for the state Supreme Court in the Sept. 19 primary election. In these contests, if the winner receives more than 50 percent of the vote, only that person will advance to the Nov. 9 general election finals.
The state's highest court has three of the incumbents up for election this year.
This contest pits challenger Stephen Johnson, a state senator, against incumbent Justice Susan Owens.
There are three other candidates for this position (Michael Johnson, Richard Smith and Norman Ericson), but the real contest is between Stephen Johnson and Owens.
We strongly recommend Stephen Johnson.
He has put in more than 30 years of practicing law in this state, and has been a Republican state senator for 12 years. He gets our vote because in his law practice and the Legislature he has demonstrated that he would, as he advocates now, be the best at:
• Upholding our state constitution's strong protection of private property rights at a time when they are under attack.
• Enforcing constitutional limits against illegal seizing of private property by government, such as under eminent domain.
• Ensuring the right of the people to view public documents against attempts to deter public access.
• Protecting our constitutional rights in this state to initiative and referendum against attempts to weaken or take away those direct democracy tools.
• Protecting the state Defense of Marriage Act, which he helped pass, that defines marriage as a union between a man and a women.
Owens, siding with gay marriage proponents, was on the losing side in a recent Supreme Court case in which, fortunately, a 5-4 majority upheld the defense of marriage law.
As to private property rights, Johnson is critical of a 7-2 Supreme Court decision last year that allowed the Seattle Monorail Authority to use eminent domain to condemn a privately owned parking garage in Pioneer Square. But the authority needed only a third of the land for a planned Monorail station, a public purpose. It intended to sell the remainder, not a legitimate purpose of eminent domain.
Owens was in the majority on the decision and has not otherwise been an appreciable defender of private property rights.
Johnson has strong bipartisan support, including from well-respected state Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and state Auditor Brian Sonntag, both Democrats.
Incumbent Gerry Alexander is challenged by John Groen, a Bellevue property and economic, constitutional and individual rights attorney who has 19 years of legal experience, including arguing cases before the state Supreme Court.
While Groen has solid credentials, including his strong support for private property rights and in his opposition to legislating from the bench, Alexander has served well enough on the court for us to give him a slight edge in recommendation.
What most saves Alexander with us is his support recently of a fundamental institution in our society - traditional marriage. On this major social issue of our time, Alexander sided with the majority, 5-4, in upholding the state's Defense of Marriage Act and in rejecting state-sanctioned homosexual marriage.
On the other hand, as Groen points out, Alexander was on the wrong side in several cases that amounted to legislating from the bench. Alexander joined the majority in the Seattle Monorail eminent domain case, in creating new exemptions to the state public disclosure law in violation of legislative intent, and in allowing the Legislature to attach an emergency clause even to legislative bills where there is no emergency. This deters the people's right to challenge the bills with a referendum.
But on the whole, Alexander, the longest serving chief justice on the Supreme Court, has served with distinction and integrity, as recognized by his peers on the court and in the profession and by the voters of this state who re-elected him in 2000.
Alexander, 69, also has 21 years of experience as a Superior Court and state Court of Appeals judge. Groen has no bench experience, a significant difference.
Burrage, Boger our picks for court posts
Tuesday, August 29, 2006 — Following are the Chronicle Editorial Board's recommendations to the voters on the third of three contested state Supreme Court positions on the Sept. 19 primary election ballot and on the contest for a position on the state Court of Appeals in the court's Southwest Washington district, including Lewis County.
The contest for this position, as with position 8 (Gerry Alexander vs. John Groen), has just two candidates - Tom Chambers, the incumbent justice, and his challenger, Jeanette Burrage.
As a result, these contests are especially important for voters because they will be deciding in the primary who will be on the court. One of the candidates in each contest will almost certainly receive more than 50 percent of the vote and only that person goes on to the Nov. 7 general election.
We give Burrage the edge for position 9. She is qualified to be on the court because of her judicial experience and because of her solid judicial philosophy that the state Constitution is based on basic principles that don't change over time and should be interpreted as the drafters intended, to protect individual and property rights. She believes judges should not legislate from the bench and knows the difference because she's been both a judge (King County Superior Court 1995-2001) and a state legislator (1981-82). Burrage has 17 years experience as an attorney, including practicing before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. District Court and our state courts.
Examples of Burrage's difference with Chambers on judicial philosophy are two recent cases decided by the court. Chambers took the highly questionable minority position, in a 5-4 decision this summer, that the state Constitution allows for homosexual marriage even though the Legislature found differently in passing a law that prohibits it.
She also differs with Chambers on his joining in a majority decision last year favoring Seattle Monorail in the eminent domain taking private property to build a monorail station when only one-third of it was intended for that public use. That left the remainder of the property open to be sold for private development or some other unstated use, not an intent of eminent domain.
On the plus side for Chambers, he has at other times been a supporter of private property rights and an opponent of government over-regulation.
COURT OF APPEALS, DIV. 2, DIST. 3
The two candidates for the contested position in this district are Joel Penoyar, South Bend, the appointed incumbent, and Brent Boger, Vancouver.
As with other judicial positions in primary elections, if either candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, that is tantamount to being elected because only that candidate advances to the Nov. 7 election. That is another reason this election is important.
In our recommendation to the voters, we give Boger the edge for this court, which meets in Tacoma, and ranks between the Supreme Court and county Superior courts.
Penoyar, who had been Superior Court judge in Pacific and Wahkiakum counties since 1988, was appointed to the appeals court last fall by Gov. Chris Gregoire. He carried baggage from his disturbing decision as Superior Court judge in a 2000 case in which he allowed a convicted child molester to work as a commercial fisherman while awaiting sentence. Boger contends Penoyar shouldn't have allowed such loose detention for a sex offender and we agree - consider similar cases where authorities have trusted such offenders or set low bail, making it possible for them to commit other heinous acts. The fact Penoyar still defends his decision makes us wonder about his judgment now.
Boger, currently an assistant city attorney for Vancouver, has had close identification with the Republican Party, which could hurt him with some voters questioning whether he could be an impartial judge. But Boger readily cut official ties with the party in compliance with the Code of Judicial Conduct and has bipartisan support.
His strengths for us include his strong support for private property rights, which he has demonstrated in his years of private practice, including land use, environmental and real estate cases.
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