State’s highest court hears cases in Port Townsend courtroom

PORT TOWNSEND — It was lights, camera, argument in Jefferson County Superior Court on Thursday — but not because of filming a movie starring Jennifer Lopez.

The state Supreme Court heard arguments in three cases as part of Chief Justice Gerry Alexander’s move to bring the court to the people.

The cameras videotaped the proceedings — as they usually do — for the state government channel.

The justices were impressed with the courtroom and the spectators who came to listen, even though several of them had practiced law or served on the bench as a visiting judge in the regal chambers.

For Susan Owens of Forks, the visit was a homecoming of sorts. The newly elected Supreme Court justice cut her teeth on legal aide cases as an attorney for the Clallam-Jefferson Community Action Program in 1976 and 1977.

“It’s thrilling,” Owens said following the day-long proceedings. “I’ve always liked this courtroom because I felt I was really a lawyer whenever I was in it. It’s so traditional with all the oak. It’s all that you imagine a courtroom to be.”

Details appear in the Friday/Saturday Peninsula Daily News, on sale throughout Clallam and Jefferson counties. Or click onto “Subscribe” to order your copy via U.S. mail.

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