The Washington State Supreme Court is hearing arguments in two same-sex marriage cases Andersen et al. v. King County and Castle v. the State of Washington at 1:30pm on Tuesday March 8 (today!) The Seattle Weekly has published a very informative article on the case by George Howland, Jr. The case is being litigated in a state in which, for the first time in history, the top three statewide elected officials are all women (Governor Christine Gregoire, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and U.S. Senator Patty Murray) and until recently had a majority-female state supreme court. There are nine members of the Court elected to 6 year terms, at staggered 2 year intervals. The current total of 4 female members (44%) is still much higher than the average percentage of female members on the "court of last resort" nationwide (23%), and the United States Supreme Court (O'Connor and Ginsburg, 22%). (A female justice, Faith Ireland, retired from the State Supreme Court and was replaced in the 2004 election by Jim Johnson.) State Supreme Court elections in Washington state are non-partisan.
Previously, highest courts in Hawaii (1993), Vermont (1999) and Massachusetts (2003) have agreed with lawyers for same-sex couples that the opposite sex restriction in state-issued civil marriage licences is unconstitutional. In the last year trial courts in Washington (2004) and New York (2005) have issued similar rulings recognizing the obvious: the state, in limiting civil marriage to opposite sex couples, is discrimination on the basis of sex and sex orientation in the application of a fundamental right, the right to marry. The statutes fail on both equal protection and due process (liberty) grounds, among others.
The public appears to be making its mind up about this issue. On Sunday March 6, there was a very public rally of support of same-sex marriage in downtown Seattle. In Connecticut, the Republican Governor has said she(!) will sign a civil union bill into law if it passes the state legislature. In New York, a recent poll of City residents showed support for same sex marriage at 51%. We'll just have to wait to see if the Justices of the Washington State Supreme Court agree with their "brethren" in Hawaii, Vermont and Massachusetts....
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