SEATTLE — The Washington state Supreme Court handed the thrift store chain Savers Value Village a unanimous win Thursday in a long-running legal fight with Attorney General Bob Ferguson, finding that its marketing practices constitute protected free speech.
In reality, it’s a for-profit company that pays charitable organizations for donations, but it does not provide the charities a direct cut of retail sales. The justices ruled 9-0 Thursday that the company’s marketing practices were protected by the U.S. Constitution. Two of the major charities it works with in Washington — Northwest Center, which supports people with disabilities, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound — had urged the attorney general’s office to drop the case and filed a friend-of-the-court brief on the thrift chain’s behalf.