{"id":8914,"date":"2013-09-24T06:36:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T15:38:26","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T15:38:26","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=8914","title":{"rendered":"WA: No private cause of action to get SW for fluoride used in drinking water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There is no private cause of action for a search warrant for fluoride used in drinking water under state law. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.courts.wa.gov\/opinions\/index.cfm?fa=opinions.showOpinion&amp;filename=432528MAJ\">Protect the Peninsula&#8217;s Future v. City of Port Angeles<\/a>, 175 Wn. App. 201, 304 P.3d 914 (2013):<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As an initial matter, we recognize that the parties correctly characterize this action as a civil action. Citing the example of City of Seattle v. McCready, 123 Wn.2d 260, 868 P.2d 134 (1994), Kailin argues that a complaint commencing a civil action is a proper means of applying for a statutorily authorized search warrant. We agree that an action for a search warrant is a civil action in rem, and it is distinct from a criminal prosecution against an individual. State v. Twenty Barrels of Whiskey, 104 Wash. 382, 387, 176 P. 673 (1918); State v. Great N. Ry. Co., 98 Wash. 197, 198, 201, 167 P. 103 (1917); see Furnia v. Grays Harbor County, 158 Wash. 619, 626-27, 291 P. 1111 (1930).<\/p>\n<p>However, Kailin further argues that RCW 69.41.060 allows any person to allege a civil cause of action for a warrant to search for legend drugs held in violation of chapter 69.41 RCW. This argument ignores the distinction between a private cause of action and a public cause of action, and this distinction is critical to determining who may bring an action to enforce a statute. See Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228, 241, 99 S. Ct. 2264, 60 L. Ed. 2d 846 (1979). A civil action for a search warrant is a public cause of action because it is brought by &#8220;the state in the exercise of its police powers as plaintiff, as in other cases of violation of the criminal laws.&#8221; Great N. Ry., 98 Wash. at 201; see Davis, 442 U.S. at 241. But because Kailin brought her complaint as a private person, she cannot maintain a public cause of action.<\/p>\n<p>Thus the question is whether RCW 69.41.060 creates a private cause of action that allows Kailin to sue for a search warrant. Kailin asserts that the statute implies a private cause of action. We disagree.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>b2evALnk.b2WPAutP <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=8914\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"pingsdone","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}