Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 1012055.pdf

Citation: Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 1012055.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
Source verification: official_capture_completeness_unverified
Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/1012055.pdf ↗

Related Parts of This Source

Full Text

1,769 chars

(internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Samuel & Jessie Kenney Presbyterian

Home v. State, 174 Wash. 19, 40, 24 P.2d 403 (1933))). Therefore, the attorney

general could maintain an action against the trustees of a charitable trust “as

representative of the public and particularly of those individuals who may be

specially benefited,” provided there is a “cognizable common law or statutory cause

of action.” Id. at 261, 257.

Next, in YAF, we held that the attorney general was authorized to file an

amicus brief on behalf of the State and the University of Washington in an

affirmative action case before the United States Supreme Court, Regents of Univ. of

Cal. v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265, 98 S. Ct. 2733, 57 L. Ed. 2d 750 (1978). 91 Wn.2d at

212. We held that the attorney general has “broad and inclusive” authority to act in

cases “which may directly or indirectly impact upon state functions or administrative

procedures and operations.” Id. at 207. The court reasoned that the concern of the

State in higher education and, particularly, the University of Washington’s minority

admissions programs, “was sufficiently vital” for the attorney general to act. Id. We

also concluded the State had a sufficient public interest in the outcome of the Bakke

litigation because the decision could affect whether and how state universities and

colleges could consider race in order to increase enrollment of students from

underrepresented communities. Id. at 212.

18
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
State v. City of Sunnyside et al.
No. 101205-5

Most recently, in City of Seattle, we held that the attorney general had the

authority to make the State a party to a multistate federal action challenging the