Washington State Court of Appeals Celebrates 50 Years
In 1968, Washington State was experiencing what Justice Hugh J. Rosellini called a crisis in the supreme court — a caseload crisis. In Crisis in the Supreme Court published in the Gonzaga Law Review, Justice Rosellini wrote, “If a remedy is not found for the congestion in the Supreme Court of Washington, it will almost inevitably become necessary to ‘ration’ justice. By 1985, the backlog will be so great that if cases are heard in order of their filing, it will mean that more than ten years will elapse between the filing and the adjudication.” (3 Gonz. L. Rev. 8, 8 (1968)) The state legislature was already well aware of the caseload crisis in our state as well as elsewhere around the country at the time. In 1967, a joint resolution was passed to propose a constitutional amendment to create a court of appeals.
Two years later, Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, the Beatles released their Abbey Road album, Richard Nixon was sworn in as President and the State of Washington passed legislation and adopted the 50th amendment to its state constitution to officially create the Washington State Court of Appeals.
The three divisions of the court (Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane) opened their doors in August, 1969. Twelve judges were appointed to serve the first court. The original group included Robert Utter, Charles Horowitz, Vernon Pearson and Charles F. Stafford, Jr., who would all later serve in the state supreme court. The “crisis” that Justice Rosellini had written about the year before did not go away overnight. Despite the addition of the three court of appeals divisions and the appointment of several new judges in 1978, Washington continued to have a caseload problem. However, the full crisis was averted with the introduction of the Appellate Backlog Elimination (ABLE) Program in 1986.
In its 50th year, the Washington State Court of Appeals (COA) handles nearly 4,000 cases annually and 22 judges now sit on the bench of the three divisions. The most recent appointment came in January when Governor Jay Inslee announced that Judge Bill Bowman would join Division I in Seattle. In November, to commemorate its 50th anniversary, the court of appeals launched its Celebrate 50 web page showcasing the court through videos, photo galleries and historical information pieces. For further information about the COA, court procedures, and case materials, check out the following resources:
TVW’s Video History of the COA
TVW’s Special Edition of Inside Olympia recognizing the COA 30th Anniversary (1999)
Appellate Case Processing Guide
Available in the Law Library Collection:
Hugh J. Rosellini, Crisis in the Supreme Court, 3 Gonz. L. Rev. 8 (1968)
Mark H. Adams, Twenty Years in Division Two: The Court of Appeals in Tacoma, 1969–1989 (1990) (LE)
