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Is state supreme court 'out of control' for holding legislature in contempt?

A Washington Supreme Court decision last week holding the legislature in contempt is getting reaction from editorial writers.

The Sept. 11 decision says the legislature is in contempt of court for failing to provide a plan on how it will provide sufficient funding for education, report the Associated Press, Education Week’s State EdWatch blog and Jonathan Turley’s blog. The Bellingham Herald published the opinion.

The court cited a Washington constitutional provision that says it is the state’s “paramount duty … to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders.” The decision withholds sanctions, however, to give the state time to comply,

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin deemed the court to be “out of control” and said the chance that the legislature will meet a 2017-2018 deadline for fully funding education “is as likely as a human landing on Pluto next week.” Some estimates put the cost of complying as high as $4 billion for a two-year budget, the newspaper says.

“Even if the state had spare cash galore, it’s the legislature—not the supreme court—that decides how it is spent,” the editorial says. “State government (like the federal government) is supposed to maintain a separation of power between the three branches of government.”

A Seattle Times editorial, on the other hand, called the ruling a “pragmatic decision” that “shows a proper respect for the boundaries. Lawmakers can’t expect to get off scot-free when they violate a court order.

“But by giving them enough time to make good,” the Seattle Times says, “the court avoids prescriptions that would limit their creativity. It permits the possibility of a ‘grand bargain’ on reforms to educational programs and on building a sounder tax structure.”