‘It’s an uphill battle’: Decades-long effort to unify Washington’s court system again falls short

While the state’s nonunified court system allows flexibility at the local level, research shows the patchwork of approaches often results in inequities and ‘justice by geography’

By: Moe K. Clark

Outlets: InvestigateWest

Published: March 20, 2025

Words: 1,461

Last Updated: 3 months ago

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During his years as a Yakima County District Court judge, Dirk Marler always started his court hearings off the same.

“I called the entire calendar at the beginning so that I could weed out the people who were in the wrong freaking building that needed to be down the road,” said Marler, who served as county court judge from 1988 to 2003.

He knew it was easy for members of the public to get confused about how …

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