State v Dennis Wadsworth :: 139 Wn2d 724
Category: Separation of Powers
The State of Washington appealed the District Court dismissal of the charge against Dennis Wadsworth. Wadsworth was prosecuted for unlawful possession of a weapon in a prohibited area. Namely, he refused to relinquish his Swiss Army knife in the lobby of a courthouse.
The Supreme Court majority found him guilty after the District Court dismissed the case. The District Court determined that the statute was unconstitutional because the Legislature granted to the “local judicial authorities” (rather than the local legislative authorities) the power to determine where the possession of a weapon is unlawful within the court buildings. The majority disagreed.
The dissenting justices pointed out “that our [C]onstitution does not permit the Legislature to delegate to the judiciary the task of defining, in whole or in part, what conduct constitutes criminal activity.” [at 744]. Furthermore, they stressed “that the Legislature, not the judiciary . . . is responsible for defining the elements of a crime.” [at 744]. “The vice of the statute under review here is that the distinction between the role of the Legislature and that of the judiciary is blurred because the statute delegates to the local judicial authority the task of designating areas, not otherwise specified in the statute, where weapons are prohibited. [at 750].
The role of the court is to decide the guilt or innocence of those charged and, if guilty, to appropriately sentence. When the court makes the rules regarding what elements constitute a crime, they have become lawmaker as well. The court now has a conflict of interest regarding the law, separation of powers is violated and our republic is in danger.
Rating the Usual Suspects:
| pass | Alexander, Gerry | |
| pass | Brandes, Ramona | |
| pass | Riehl, James | |
| pass | Sanders, Richard | |
| fail | Guy, Richard | |
| fail | Hauge, Russell D | |
| fail | Ireland, Faith | |
| fail | Jahns, Jeffrey | |
| fail | Johnson, Charles | |
| fail | Loginsky, Pamela | |
| fail | Madsen, Barbara | |
| fail | Smith, Charles | |
| fail | Sweeney, Dennis | |
| fail | Talmadge, Phil |