Const. art. VIII, § 4 ......................................................................................... 12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 of the[] courts as to equipment, facilities and supporting personnel.” Id. Because of the extraordinary nature of this power—which intrudes on the Legislature’s appropriations power and subverts the normal separation of powers—the Washington Supreme Court adopted a “high standard” for the judiciary to invoke its inherent authority: available funding must be “so inadequate that the court [can]not fulfill its duties.” Id. at 250, 252-53. The Court also imposed “the highest burden of proof”—a “clear, cogent, and convincing” showing—on “courts seek[ing] to exercise their inherent power in the context of court finance.” Id. at 251-52. The Court held in Juvenile Director that this standard was not met.11 Id.

There are two basic reasons for these limitations. First, the “inherent

power derives from the need to protect the functioning of an independent branch,” and therefore must hew closely to that purpose. Id. at 249. Second, structural separation-of-powers considerations favor restraint. Id. Courts are ill-equipped for the inherently “political” task of “allocat[ing] available monetary resources.”12 Id. at 248. They cannot hold “public hearings,” have no established and “carefully monitored process” for budgeting, and are not “politically sensitive.” Id. at 248-49.

11 Indeed, the State’s counsel are unaware of any court ever invoking inherent judicial power to compel a statewide funding increase for the court system. Plaintiffs’ citation of a single judge’s suit against a county for funding to secure one courthouse is the exception that proves the rule. See FAC ¶ 5.44. 12 In this context, “political” means the necessarily “discretionary” nature of balancing the many competing concerns that come with “[d]eciding the allocation of limited state funds.” SEIU Healthcare 775NW v. Gregoire, 168 Wn.2d 593, 600, 229 P.3d 774 (2010) (cleaned up). Relatedly, “monetary resources” does not just mean available funds. It refers to tax revenues extracted through tax legislation, which is another power reserved only to the Legislature. See Const. art. VII, § 5; id., art. VIII, § 4.

MOTION TO DISMISS Case No. 21-2-06462-7 SEA 13

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