The Washington Supreme Court just released its eagerly anticipated decision moments ago in Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown's lawsuit against Lt. Governor Brad Owen, which attempted to invalidate the supermajority vote requirement of Initiative 960 for bills that raise taxes.
In an unanimous opinion authored by Justice Mary Fairhurst, the court refused to entertain the question. Agreeing with arguments made by Lt. Governor Owens, as well as AWB in our friend-of-the-court brief, the court concluded:
This original action is improperly before this court on application for a writ of mandamus and is a nonjusticiable political question. Intervention of this court into an intrahouse dispute over a parliamentary ruling to compel the president of the senate to perform a discretionary duty would be a grave violation of separation of powers. We dismiss the action.
