William Cassius Goodloe III (September 19, 1919 – January 18, 1997) was an American lawyer, politician and judge, who served as chief justice of the
Washington Supreme Court
The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the ...
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
. After graduating from the
University of Washington School of Law
The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington.
The 2023 '' U.S. News & World Report'' law school rankings place Washingt ...
in 1948, he went on to practice as a trial lawyer for 24 years.
Goodloe served in the
Washington State Senate
The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...
as a Republican from 1951 to 1959, and later headed the
1962 World's Fair
The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States.Washington State Republican Party from 1960 to 1962.
He served on the King County Superior Court for twelve years and served for three and a half years on the Washington State Supreme Court from January 14, 1985 to July 17, 1988, after winning a contested election."4 new justices make history on high court", ''
Spokane Chronicle
The ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'' is a daily digital newspaper in Spokane, Washington. It was founded as a weekly paper in 1881 and grew into an afternoon daily, competing with ''The Spokesman-Review'', which was formed from the merger of two comp ...
'' (January 14, 1985), p. 3. While on the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, Justice Goodloe authored 56
majority opinion
In law, a majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision.
Not all cases have ...
s with 12
concurrence
In Western jurisprudence, concurrence (also contemporaneity or simultaneity) is the apparent need to prove the simultaneous occurrence of both ("guilty action") and ("guilty mind"), to constitute a crime; except in crimes of strict liability ...
s and 34 dissents. He resigned his position before the end of his first term.
Goodloe twice attempted to run for the US Senate. In 1988, he entered the Republican primary against Slade Gorton, receiving around 3% of the vote. In January 1992, Goodloe challenged Democratic Senator Brock Adams as a third-party candidate, representing the
Washington Taxpayers Party
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, which he had established in 1991.
In the early 1990s, Goodloe set up a group called "Morality in Youth" to oppose a plan by the Seattle School District to distribute contraception in public schools.
Jurisprudence
He was an advocate of
jury nullification
Jury nullification (US/UK), jury equity (UK), or a perverse verdict (UK) occurs when the jury in a criminal trial gives a not guilty verdict despite a defendant having clearly broken the law. The jury's reasons may include the belief that the ...
and suggested that the following instruction be given by judges to all juries in criminal cases:
: ''"You are instructed that this being a criminal case you are the exclusive judges of the evidence, the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given to their testimony, and you have a right also to determine the law in the case. The court does not intend to express any opinion concerning the weight of the evidence, but it is the duty of the court to advise you as to the law, and it is your duty to consider the instructions of the court; yet in your decision upon the merits of the case you have a right to determine for yourselves the law as well as the facts by which your verdict shall be governed."''
Personal life
Goodloe and his wife Phyllis lived in the Seattle area with a large family. He was also a Freemason and a member of the Valley of Seattle, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite and held the rank and title of 32° Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
As well as being an amateur painter, Goodloe spent a majority of his time after his retirement studying and giving speeches on the US Constitution.