Born: Friday, March 19th, 1897
Died: Thursday, April 30th, 1987
Birthplace: Ritzville, Washington
Religion: Episcopalian
Education: University of Idaho
University of Idaho School of Law, LL.B. (1919)
Career: Prosecuting Attorney (1923-1931)
City Attorney (1925-1931)
Ritzville Mayor (1931-1933)
State House of Representatives (1933-1935)
Superior Court (1949-1955)
Served: Monday, January 24th, 1955 to Friday, March 31st, 1967
Chief Justice: Monday, January 14th, 1963 to Monday, January 11th, 1965
Political Party: Republican
Appointing Governor: Langlie (Republican)
Richard B. Ott, born in room one of the Ritzville Hotel on March 18, 1897, was the son of Sebastian and Christina (Hege) Ott. His father operated a vineyard in Germany before coming to America in 1893. With his brother, he built and managed the Ritzville Hotel and constructed and operated the Ritzville Flouring Mill. Richard attended local public schools while working in the mill after school and during summers. His high school debating experience and his brother John’s encouragement convinced Ott to become a lawyer. He enrolled at the University of Idaho, but interrupted his studies to volunteer for the infantry during World War I. After officers’ training, the army discharged him following the armistice as a second lieutenant and he reentered the University of Idaho School of Law, graduating with an LL.B. in 1919. Ott first practiced in Oakley, Idaho, but after a year returned to his home town, passing the Washington bar and opening an office across the street from the Ritzville Hotel.Although his father had not been active in political affairs-and incidentally, distrusted lawyers-the younger Ott became a considerable force in Ritzville Republican politics. In 1923 he won election as Adams County Prosecuting Attorney, serving four terms. In 1931 he returned to private practice, forming a partnership with Edward G. Cross. During this period Ott served as Ritzville’s mayor and city attorney. In 1933 he entered the state house of representatives and in the 1935 session served as speaker pro tem. His legislative experience served him well later as the legislative liaison for the Washington State Bar Association.
The future judge again entered the army in November 1942, serving as litigation officer with the Judge Advocate General Department. Discharged with the rank of major in 1946, Ott resumed his Ritzville law practice. When Adams County gained a new superior court position in 1949, Governor Arthur Langlie appointed Ott to the post. Voters elected him to the position in 1950 and returned him to a full term in 1952. Two years later Judge Ott filed for the supreme court, although Hugh Rosellini soundly defeated him. Ott had the state bar association’s endorsement, but Rosellini possessed name familiarity, had the support of labor, and had in place a network of support from his narrow defeat at the hands of Frederick Hamley in 1950.
Judge Ott believed he lost because he started his campaign too late. He recalled:
Tom Grady was stepping down as … judge. It was then believed since eastern Washington had one-third of the state’s population it should have three of the nine judges. I wouldn’t run against Tom but he didn’t announce his intention not to run until very late, which did not give me much time to make a statewide campaign.
Ott only reluctantly filed, with the election so near. But a few leaders in the bar convinced him to make the run. Many members of the Seattle bar came to know him through his military litigation in Seattle courts during World War II. He also presided over King County cases as visiting judge a number of times. Some segments of the bar sought a viable candidate to oppose Hugh Rosellini and chose Ott:
In order to give me hope, there was this meeting at the College Club … There [were] at least 20 or 30 lawyers. Some of them were real prominent lawyers and they urged me to run. I don’t know what they had against Hugh Rosellini. They never told me. They wanted me to run for it. .. They raised about $1,500.
Ott spent about $30,000 during his abortive run. A few months later Judge Ralph Olson died from a brain aneurysm. Within a week, Governor Arthur Langlie selected Richard Ott to the vacancy. The judge recalled the appointment: “[the governor] called me up and said you’d spent a lot of money to get on the supreme court, how would you like to have it for free? [The appointment is yours] if you can be over here by Monday … to take some en banc cases. We have to have nine judges.” Ott responded, “If you say so I can make it!”
The appointment made sense. Ott had a solid reputation throughout the state as a result of presiding over trials in twenty-five of Washington’s thirty-nine counties. He had strongly supported Governor Langlie, his “good friend.” Finally, with eastern Washington underrepresented on the court, Ott proved a logical choice.
In four subsequent reelections Ott used state bar endorsement and eastern Washington support to overcome opponents almost always backed by organized labor.
Judge Ott had a cautious, conservative, and individualistic decisional style. Not reluctant to disagree with his brethren, the judge’s record shows that on forty-four occasions his dissents gained enough signatures to become majority opinions, always a source of pride for Ott. One of his clerks recalled that the judge “felt very strongly about his convictions, and would seldom, if ever, compromise his position.” He rarely lobbied for his point of view but “always hoped his opinion would sell itself.”
His working relationship with his clerks was one of persuasion, compromise, and cooperation. According to one former clerk:
[Ott] worked independently on research and would arrive at fairly independent conclusions. We would then get together and resolve our differences (usually the judge prevailed-but not always) … My judge was a man absolutely devoted to the judicial process. Although personally quite conservative where I was quite liberal our relationship was excellent. He was always willing to listen to and sometimes accept a contrary point of view. He enjoyed debate and believed it necessary to arrive at the truth.
While serving as chief justice, Ott was influential in negotiating the bench-bar-press guidelines that ultimately became the voluntary rules accepted by attorneys, judges, journalists, and police to establish a balance between the freedom of the press and fair-trial demands of the U. S. Constitution. He served as the first chairman of the bench-bar-press commission appointed in 1963.
Judge Ott retired from the supreme court in March 1967 to travel, golf, and continue his interest in photography. Before giving up judging entirely, he again practiced law and thus became eligible to sit as a pro tempore judge at the trial level. He announced his availability and fulfilled his longtime ambition of being the first judge in the state’s history to sit over trials in all of the state’s counties.
Judge Ott married Allene L. Mills of Sprague, Washington, in July 1926. They were parents of one daughter, Patricia. The judge belonged to the American Legion, serving as national vice-commander for a term. He was also a member of the Lions, Odd Fellows, Shriners, Masons, Patron of Eastern Star, and the Ritzville Chamber of Commerce. He served a term on the city’s library board. During retirement the Otts traveled between a winter home in Yuma, Arizona, and Olympia. After a prolonged illness, Judge Ott died on April 30, 1987.
Selected References
Ott’s oral history interview is in the supreme court collection; Washington State Archives. Also see M. A. Ratcliffe, “Justice Ott’s Dissent Success: A Reflection on Dissent Behavior,” Ott file, in the same collection; C. W. Taylor, Eminent Judges and Lawyers of the Northwest (1954), p. 178; Seattle Times, 17 Oct. 1973 and 10 Jan. 1977; and memorial services, Washington Reports, vol. 108, 2d (1987), pp. xxxvii-xliv.
The preceding biography is from Charles Sheldon's The Washington High Bench: A Biographical History of the State Supreme Court, 1889-1991, © 1992 by the Board of Regents of Washington State University. Reprinted here with permission and licensed to the public under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License by The Temple of Justice Project.
