State Ex Rel. Zempel v. Twitchell

(concurring in the result)—Article I, § 22, of the state constitution (the tenth amendment) guarantees the right of appeal in all criminal cases, while the Organic Act contained no such guarantee, so it was within the province of the territorial legislature to grant or deny appeal in a criminal case.

The territorial legislature of 1866 enacted RCW 42.12.010, which provides that a public office is vacated if the occupant thereof be convicted of specified crimes. This statute has not been re-enacted since statehood. Territorial statutes in conflict with the subsequently adopted constitution were…