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Washington's Legislative Building and Temple of Justice
Washington's Legislative Building and Temple of Justice Andrew Villeneuve / Northwest Progressive Institute

Welcome

Welcome to the Northwest Progressive Institute's Capital Gains Tax Litigation Resource Center. This website was built to provide public access to case files from the legal challenge filed by right wing forces against Washington State's new capital gains tax on the wealthy.

These consolidated cases, known as Quinn et al v. State of Washington et al (Case No. 21-2-00075-09 and Case No. 21-2-00087-09), were first heard in Douglas County Superior Court. That court found for the plaintiffs. The defendants then appealed to the Washington State Supreme Court to grant direct review, which it did. 

While Supreme Court briefs and opinions are usually made available on www.courts.wa.gov, briefs and exhibits at the trial court level are not. Douglas County Superior Court charges twenty-five cents per page to obtain case records by email. We are making case files available here at no charge as a public service. 

Note: This archive is a work in progress and not all of the case files are available yet. We will continue to add documents to this site as the case progresses. Notices of appearance filed by parties' attorneys are not included in the archive. 

Table of Contents

Rulings

Pleadings filed by the plaintiffs

The plaintiffs (Quinn et al) are Chris Quinn, Craig Leuthold, Suzie Burke, Lewis and Martha Randall, Rick Glenn, Neil Muller, Larry and Margaret King, and Kerry Cox. They do not want Washington State to have a capital gains tax on the wealthy, so they filed a legal challenge which they hope will end with the tax being struck down by the courts. The plaintiffs are the respondents at the appellate level. 

In Douglas County Superior Court

In the Supreme Court

Pleadings filed by the defendants 

The defendants are the State of Washington and its Department of Revenue, represented by the Attorney General of Washington (AGO). The Legislature wants Washington State to have a capital gains tax on the wealthy and passed a law in 2021 providing for one, so the AGO is defending that position. 

The defendants are the appellants at the appellate level. 

In Douglas County Superior Court

In the Supreme Court

Pleadings filed by the intervenors

The intervenors are people and organizations that want the capital gains tax on the wealthy upheld as constitutional and have intervened in the case to be able to offer their own arguments to the courts. The intervenors are the Edmonds School District, Tamara Grubb, Adrienne Stuart, Mary Curry, and the Washington Education Association. They are represented by Pacifica Law Group. 

In the Supreme Court

Amicus briefs 

Amicus means friend of the court. Learn more about amicus briefs.

In Douglas County Superior Court