Judge Eases Into Retirement Quakenbush To Leave District Court After 15 Years On The Bench

The ranking federal judge for Eastern Washington, Justin L. Quackenbush, enters semi-retirement Tuesday after 15 years on the bench.

As chief judge for the 20 counties in the Eastern District of Washington, he oversees administration of civil and criminal cases filed in U.S. District Court.

Quackenbush also hears cases throughout the West as a visiting judge and a part-time judge for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In Hawaii, he presided over the trial of a pornography star who laced her husband’s sandwich with LSD and later was convicted of assisting with his murder.

In Spokane and Richland, he oversaw two criminal bid-rigging cases and numerous civil suits seeking billions in damages for the failed nuclear projects known as WPPSS.

The Washington Public Power Supply System financial disaster was the largest municipal bond default in the nation’s history.

He also handled the trial of Ghost Riders biker club president Al Hegge, and just finished the trail of a disbarred California attorney who threatened to kill two federal judges.

Quackenbush said being a federal judge is rewarding, but also brings moments of loneliness and professional isolation.

“You tend to be cloistered,” he said of his job and circle of friends, now mostly outside the legal profession.

Lawyers tend to avoid socializing with judges because of the appearance of potential conflicts, Quackenbush said.

Quackenbush is a longtime critic of federal sentencing guidelines, set by Congress. He and many other judges believe the guidelines strip judges of their discretion.

Most criminal cases he handles involve drugs, and he is discouraged about the pervasiveness of the problem. He sides with those who question effectiveness of the drug war.

“We’re making headway (in the drug war) if the test is, how many people do we have locked up in prison?” Quackenbush said.

“I’m too old to advocate the legalization of drugs, but I believe we’re being awfully shortsighted if we don’t do a better job of educating our young people about what drugs do to you.”

Quackenbush plans to golf more and spend winters in Southern California where he and his wife, Marie, have purchased a second home.

But as a senior judge, the 65-year-old jurist will continue to hear a few criminal and civil cases in Spokane. He will retain his ninth floor courtroom in the U.S. Courthouse.

Quackenbush also will continue to sit part-time as a judge for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

His legal career stretches back to 1957 when, after serving on a U.S. Navy destroyer during the Korean War, he graduated at the top of his class at Gonzaga Law School.

Quackenbush went on to work as a deputy prosecutor for Spokane County for a couple of years before opening a private law practice in Spokane.

A close friend of former House Speaker Tom Foley, Quackenbush was nominated to the federal bench in 1980 by President Carter.

He was sworn in as U.S. District Court judge on June 27, 1980, by his father, the late Carl C. Quackenbush, who was a retired Spokane County Superior Court judge.

As they took the bench in 1980, Quackenbush and the late Judge Robert McNichols inherited a 500-case backlog in the Eastern District of Washington, encompassing 20 counties.

In the late 1980s, Quackenbush handled 285 felony cases in a 15-month period.

Because of the backlog, he led the successful effort for two additional federal judges for the district - something Congress approved in 1990.

Quackenbush also was instrumental in establishing the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington, a community-based organization that represents criminal defendants who can’t afford their own lawyer.

Five cases he tried were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld most of his rulings.

When he’s not talking golf, the judge loves to relate anecdotes about cases he has handled.

“Watching juries is the fun part of jury trials,” he said.

The judge recalled a robbery case where the jurors had looks of disbelief when a witnesses testified that the key for a moneystorage shed was kept in a nearby tree.

He also likes to quote H.L. Mencken: “Injustice is relatively easy to bear; it’s justice that stings.”

“Sometimes those tough decisions do sting, like when I have to suppress as evidence the drugs of a known drug dealer because of constitutional provisions,” Quackenbush said.

“We may abhor the reprehensible conduct we see, but every defendant must be afforded the protection of the Constitution, or our system will end up in anarchy.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo