John J. O'Meara v. Washington State Board Against Discrimination - Notable case from 1959

Case citation: O'Meara v. Washington State Bd. Against Discrimination, 365 P.2d 1, 58 Wn.2d 793 (Wash. 1961)

The case

In 1959, the O’Meara family was looking to sell their home in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood. Postal worker Robert Jones, a Black man, made a full-price offer on the home. Mrs. O’Meara refused the earnest money and offering papers and said she would “burn” them.

The Washington Board Against Discrimination took up the case and ordered the O’Meara family to sell their home to Mr. Jones. Assistant Attorney General Wing Luke later represented the Board in the Washington Supreme Court.

King County Superior Court Judge James W. Hodson reversed the Board’s decision. Judge Hodson served in various departments, including departments 6 and 13.

The Washington Supreme Court affirmed the trial court. Concurring in the Court’s opinion, Justice Joseph A. Mallery accused the Board of being a...

flying squadron to be called anywhere to bargain on behalf of any disgruntled [Black person] who has complained against a white man.

Mallery's concurrence in Price v. Evergreen Cemetery Co. of Seattle was also filled with racial animus.

Following the Washington Supreme Court’s 2020 letter to the legal community recognizing the role that courts have played in devaluing Black lives, the King County Superior Court sent its own letter to the local legal community. That letter acknowledged the court’s role in upholding injustice at times, and recognized that the court had previously upheld racist deed restrictions, and had at times...

wrongfully deprived Black Americans of their liberty in criminal cases and . . . precluded them from fully engaging in civil society.