Highline Community College

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATELY

DATE: April 23, 2008

CONTACT: Joy Smucker, (206) 878-3710, ext. 3856, jsmucker@highline.edu

Lisa Skari, (206) 878-3710, ext. 3705, lskari@highline.edu

Washington Supreme Court to convene at Highline Community College

DES MOINES – The Washington State Supreme Court will visit and convene at Highline Community College on May 5-6.

On Monday, May 5, 1:20-2:30 p.m., six justices will participate in a campus-wide forum in Building 7, hosted by Highline’s Honors Department. Community members are invited to attend.

The court, with all nine justices, will sit in actual session on Tuesday, May 6, to hear oral arguments on three different cases, two in the morning and one in the afternoon. Live coverage by TVW will be provided.

The cases include No. 80532-6, Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound (appellant) v. City of Des Moines (respondent); No. 81067-2, City of Tukwila (petitioner) v. Garrett (respondent); and No. 80041-3, State (respondent) v. Puapuaga (petitioner).

In the first case, to be heard at 9:00 a.m., the court will be deciding whether the city’s initial denial of a public disclosure request triggered the one-year statute of limitations on judicial review of the city’s action.

In the second case, heard at 10:15 a.m., the court will be ruling on whether the Tukwila Municipal Court can select jurors who live in zip codes that are not entirely in city limits and who do not, in fact, live in the city.

In the final case, heard at 1:30 p.m., the court will decide whether the state properly seized a hospitalized defendant’s personal belongings for evidence.

The Court rarely visits community colleges, Highline officials say.  Over the past few years, the Court has held sessions at Gonzaga, Central Washington University, and at the University of Washington and Seattle University law schools.

For more information about the cases, including copies of the plaintiff and defendant briefs, and about the visit and the Washington Supreme Court, visit the program’s website at http://flightline.highline.edu/wasupremect.

Highline Community College was founded in 1961 as the first community college in King County. With approximately 9,500 students and 350,000 alumni, it is one of the state’s largest institutions of higher education. The college offers a wide range of academic transfer and professional-technical education programs, with day, evening, on-line, and weekend classes.

With the most diverse population of any college in Washington State, Highline takes a multi-cultural approach to education for the success of all its students and the prosperity of its surrounding communities. Alumni include former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, entrepreneur Junki Yoshida and noted author Ann Rule.

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