The Temple of Justice Project is a joint effort of The Oyez Project and the Thomas S. Foley Institute at Washington State University.
Like the Temple of Justice Building itself, this website is a place where the public can explore the Washington State Supreme Court and its history, learn about the Justices who have served on the Court over its 120-year existence, discover the range of issues it deals with, and gain a better understanding of how the Court functions and arrives at its decisions.
We also want to bring together all the elements of the cases that the Court chooses to hear and decide. For each case, there should be a single page listing the parties involved, the questions raised, the petitions and briefs, the oral arguments, the attorneys and Justices who participate, and ultimately the opinions. We will initially focus on Landmark Cases, as well as current cases, and gradually add more cases over time.
There are a number of public sites that provide much of that information, including:
- Washington Courts (http://www.courts.wa.gov/)
- TVW – Washington State Public Affairs TV Network (http://tvw.org/)
- Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (http://mrsc.org/)
- The Washington State Archives (http://www.secstate.wa.gov/archives/)
Our aim is to complement those online resources, by creating a website that brings together all the elements of the cases, along with a variety of audio-visual material on the history and operation of the Washington Supreme Court, much like The Oyez Project does for the U.S. Supreme Court.
While some cases are important to everyone, every case is important to someone. No case is too trivial, and no contribution is too small. If you have any briefs, historical photographs, public documents, etc., that you would like to share, or if you would like to contribute in other ways, please contact admin@tofj.org.
Everything on this site is believed to be in the public domain. The Court’s business is the public’s business, so in general, materials submitted to the Court, released by the Court, or recorded in the courtroom without commentary, are not copyrightable. However, if you believe we have mistakenly posted copyrighted material, please let us know, and we will attempt to verify and correct the problem.
We also take privacy concerns very seriously, and any documents containing sensitive or private information will either be redacted or removed. Since we deal only with public documents, we anticipate that most privacy issues will have already been addressed.
DISCLAIMER
This website is not sponsored by, nor affiliated in any way with, the Washington State Supreme Court. Although much of the information on the website was obtained from the Supreme Court’s records, the Supreme Court does not control the subsequent use of court information and accordingly does not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of the information that appears on this website. The Supreme Court does not endorse the website, its sponsors or benefactors, any views expressed on the website, or any products or services offered on it. The Supreme Court takes no part in any solicitation of funds associated with the website.