Somewhere in the Shadow Constitution

The State of Washington Supreme Court is to rule on whether court-appointed attorneys are to be required in civil cases. The issue being considered is the appeal of a divorce proceeding where one party represented herself because she couldn't afford a lawyer -- and lost. The contention is that the taxpayer should be responsible for assuring civil litigants are adequately represented in court.

You know, the State of Washington has become such a utopian paradise that it wouldn't surprise me if a court decided that the state taxpayer has to buy all litigants a new suit to assure spiffy proceedings.