The Devil's Advocate
Justice Richard Sanders, the state Supreme Court’s maverick libertarian, champions unpopular causes and offends powerful people. When he visited the sex predators’ lockup, his foes had him where they wanted him.
“That’s what’s really wrong with Richard,” says Sidran. “It’s his overwhelming self-confidence and self-righteousness. It allows him to say, ‘These ethical issues are not real issues because I am above all that, I can’t be tainted.’ ”
“What surprised me is that Sanders fought so hard after the ruling,” says King County prosecutor David Hackett. “In my mind an admonishment’s like a parking ticket. Wouldn’t you just say, ‘Okay, I made a mistake,’ and move on?”
But to Sanders, the ruling is a toxic slur: Ordinary people “don’t understand how an admonishment is ‘like a parking ticket.’ You can see how this is being used against me in this campaign.”
It’s clear he’s fighting to defend more than just his job. “It was wrong, wrong, wrong,” he says with startling vehemence. “They wrongly impugned my reputation.” And Richard Sanders—contentious, compassionate, courageous, contrarian—has never been one to back off from defending an unpopular cause. Even when that cause is himself.
Published: July 2010
Sanders has at least one glaring exception to his libertarian-leaning opinoiins, and this is the opinion penned by James Johnson in the DOMA case, Andersen v. King County. Johnson and Sanders agreed with the majority judgment that DOMA was constitutional, but signed a separate opinion absolutely dripping with anti-gay bile. Read a bit more about that here: http://pamshouseblend.com/diary/16553/lets-put-two-more-fairminded-justices-on-washingtons-supreme-court
This is a remarkably well researched and well written article. Having both served on the Judcicial Conduct Commission as well as having been the subject of a disciplinary proceeding I especially appreciate the thoroughness of Eric Scigliano’s research as well as the depth of his acumen. Past coverage of these issues tend to be either superficial or biased, or both. I have not previously read an article that covers the interaction between the Commission and Justice Sanders with this degree of clarity. Thank you for your effort.
Dave Edwards
Okanogan District Court