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Questions tagged [washington]

Questions concerning the laws, criminal justice system, civil court procedures and related topics specific to the State of Washington, NOT Washington, DC. For questions pertaining to Washington DC use the "district-of-columbia" tag.

148 questions
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Is it illegal to warm up your car?

According to this article, the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 46.61.600 prohibits people from starting their cars in Washington State if they're unoccupied. However, it's a common practice for people to turn on their cars before entering, so the…
The Editor
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Would a lifetime gym membership be subject to bankruptcy proceedings?

A person in the state of Washington purchases a gym membership that entitles them (and them alone) to visit the gym for the rest of their lifetime, in exchange for a single lump sum payment. A few years later said person fails to pay down their…
JonathanReez
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Is it illegal to carry someone else's ID or credit card?

I was watching a video by RealWorldPolice about a high school student who was arrested for carrying a loaded gun into his school in Seattle, WA. Footage of the entire search, detainment, and arrest of the student can be found here. At one point in…
zmt
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Is a thumbs-up emoji considered as legally binding agreement in the United States?

I read that a thumbs-up emoji considered as legally binding agreement in Canada. Is a thumbs-up emoji considered as legally binding agreement in the United States? If state-specific, I am mostly interested in California and Washington state.
Franck Dernoncourt
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Can a married couple be charged with a traffic infraction?

In the state of Washington USA, my daughter and son-in-law were joint recipients of a red light camera ticket. The law clearly states that the "operator of the motor vehicle" is responsible for the fine, so it would seem to me that the burden of…
Michael Hall
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"One-time discount" fraud: is any crime committed?

A retailer offers a one time discount to new customers. The T&C clearly state that the discount is limited to one time per household. However, Bob discovers that in practice he can just create new accounts on the retailer's website, and claim the…
user987987013
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Is it an independent and additional offence to have a fake passenger (e.g., a mannequin) to try to avoid HOV violation detection?

Reading https://ktla.com/news/local-news/carpool-violator-busted-in-southern-california-despite-next-level-dummy/amp/ (mirror) made me wonder: is it illegal to have a fake passenger (e.g., a mannequin) to try to avoid HOV violation…
Franck Dernoncourt
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In Washington State, how much of a car can be replaced before it's legally not the same car?

Let's say you have a 1965 Thunderbird. You can't legally take the V.I.N. plate off the car, slap it on another car and say "this is my 1965 Thunderbird." You can, however, take the rear bumper off your car, replace it with another bumper, and still…
Jamie
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Legality of online publishing of public records containing home addresses of large #'s of people?

Suppose that: (1) a person living in Washington state receives a large number of documents from a public records request, each containing names and mailing addresses (for hundreds of thousands of people in total), along with a variety of other data;…
J. Taylor
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Why are jurors asked if each element of a crime is proved, rather than the crime as a whole

After seeing the State of Washington Jury instructions for manslaughter as quoted in this answer https://law.stackexchange.com/a/96079/388, I'm wondering why the instruction is "if... each of these elements has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt,…
bdsl
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Is self-defense allowed when there are objectively reasonable grounds but it is actually done subjectively for improper reasons?

Suppose that someone uses deadly self-defense in circumstances when it would have been objectively reasonable to do so (e.g., someone has a gun pointed at you and has threatened to shoot). But, the actual subjective reason that the person used it…
ohwilleke
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How do you dispute a large bill for damages?

Suppose that a person T (for tenant) had a year ago rented an apartment that had some water damage due to a pipe bursting inside the building. There was a lot of back and forth between T and the property manager P, and recently T finally got a bill…
JonathanReez
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Can a company officially decide to break the law since the penalty for breaking it is cheaper than following it?

For example imagine a company in Washington that needs a temporary building for its workers to live in during the summer. Instead of bothering with permits, they rapidly construct a dormitory for their employees which is a violation punishable for…
JonathanReez
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Am I legally obligated to get a driver's license after moving?

I recently moved from Arizona to Washington, and I had to get a Washington Driver's License to be able to register my car (the AZ registration was about to expire). However, pretending I didn't need to do that, do I legally have to register to…
childofsoong
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In Washington: Is it legal to sell alcohol to someone without an ID who looks 90 years old, after asking to see their ID?

At the store I used to work at, if you ask for ID, the customer NEEDS to provide it. They could have grey hair, a cane, and even be verified as 21+ by someone else, and it still wouldn't matter. We were told that this was Washington State law. I've…
user14261
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