Washington state courts
Judge upholds Washington’s $17B transportation package
An effort to derail a sweeping state transportation package failed Friday, with a Thurston County judge upholding the law. But opponents hinted that the legal fight may not be over. They’d sued asserting the legislation contains multiple unrelated topics in violation of a state constitutional requirement that bills cover no more than one subject. Thurston […]
Low-income domestic violence survivors face uphill battle in obtaining court-ordered protections
This article is the third in a three-part series from InvestigateWest. If you are in a domestic violence situation, get connected with advocates and resources through the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence at https://wscadv.org/. Nique showed up to her first court hearing in King County alone. Homeless and without an attorney or victim advocate […]
Why many judges in WA won’t order abusers to turn in guns
This article is the second in a three-part series from InvestigateWest. In June 2019, a woman lay on the floor of a trailer home in Kitsap County, struggling to breathe after her boyfriend, Dwayne Allen Flannery, allegedly beat and choked her. After a neighbor called the police, Flannery was charged with second-degree assault. The county’s […]
In eastern WA, victims seeking protection avoid a judge accused of domestic violence himself
This article is the first in a three-part series from InvestigateWest. In 2021, Marie worried that her son was unsafe at her ex-husband’s home. She went into the county courthouse in Pasco, Washington, and filed a restraining order, thinking she had a good case: There was audio of an alleged assault of her 16-year-old son, […]