RIP, Judge John Schultheis

Former Washington Court of Appeals judge John Schultheis of Spokane passed away recently. Here's a story about his life and career from the online edition Spokane's very own newspaper of record, the Spokesman-Review. Schultheis was a giant on the bench in eastern Washington -- a compassionate yet rigorous judge, he was a jurist with a temperament that is unfortunately becoming something of a rarity these days:  he was a Burkean liberal.

While I never had the opportunity to formally appear before Judge Schultheis as an advocate in court, I did see him around Spokane from time to time, and he was a friendly and outgoing public servant. He spent time talking to law students, to ordinary citizens, and to the people who had business before the court. He never forgot his roots in the community and that his task as a judge was to apply the law to the messy and often tragic situations of human life. While I often found things to disagree with in his written opinions, his heart and his analytic legal reasoning were always on display. He will be remembered, both by the legal community and by anyone who reads through the Washington Appellate Reporter printed for the years when he was serving on the Court of Appeals. May he rest in peace.