This morning Dr. Antonio Oftelie, the court-appointed police monitor for the 2012 Consent Decree, filed a status report informing Judge James Robart of what has been happening in 2021 and previewing actions expected next year. Oftelie provided an update on contract negotiations with the two unions representing SPD officers and supervisors, and provided some details on how he is assembling his much-anticipated assessment of SPD’s compliance with the consent decree.
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Council and City Attorney-elect get off to a rocky start, with diversion programs center stage
This week the relationship between the City Council and City Attorney-elect Ann Davison started out on the wrong foot, as the Council rushed a bill through to address its fears that Davison won’t embrace pre-filing diversion programs.
Continue readingNinth Circuit Court reverses lower court, allows Sawant defamation case to move forward
Twice now U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman has tried to dismiss a defamation case filed against Councilmember Kshama Sawant, and twice the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has said no. Twice now the plaintiffs have tried to have the case reassigned to a different judge, and twice the Ninth Circuit has said no.
Continue readingAn update on the Fort Lawton affordable housing redevelopment project
The city’s efforts to acquire the former Fort Lawton campus from the U.S. Army and redevelop it into affordable housing seems to be moving forward, finally — though it’s hard to tell from the external indications.
Continue readingCatching up on court cases: September 16, 2021
It’s been a busy week in Seattle courts, though much has flown under the radar. Let’s get caught up.
Continue readingAppeals court denies motion to revive Compassion Seattle charter amendment
In a terse ruling today, the state Court of Appeals has denied Compassion Seattle’s motion for a stay on a lower court’s ruling removing the CA29 charter amendment from the November ballot.
Continue readingCompassion Seattle changes mind, appeals ruling after all
Last Friday, after King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer removed the “Compassion Seattle” charter amendment from the November ballot, the campaign announced that it would not appeal the ruling given the short amount of time until King County Elections needs to print ballots. But this morning in a surprising reversal, the campaign went ahead and filed a motion for an emergency stay of Judge Shaffer’s ruling in anticipation of a full appeal to follow.
Continue readingKing County judge strikes down Compassion Seattle initiative, removing it from November ballot
This afternoon, King County District Court Judge Catherine Shaffer issued a ruling from the bench declaring the proposed “Compassion Seattle” charter amendment, also known as CA29, to be outside the scope of the local initiative/charter amendment process and ordered it removed from the November ballot. UPDATE 8-31-21: Here is Judge Shaffer’s written ruling.
Continue readingU.S. Supreme Court strikes down CDC eviction moratorium, and undermines local moratoriums in the process
The big legal news yesterday was a 6-3 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that dissolved the CDC’s most recent version of a moratorium on evictions during the COVID-19 emergency. That in itself was not surprising, as the Court had signaled earlier in the summer that it was heading in that direction. But buried in its ruling are two paragraphs that quietly undermine state and local moratoriums as well, including those in effect in Washington and Seattle.
Continue readingState Supreme Court issues big ruling on impounding homeless person’s lived-in vehicle
This morning the Washington State Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in the case of City of Seattle vs. Long, in which the city impounded the truck that a homeless man was living in and that was parked illegally on public property, and then charged him $950 to cover the towing company’s fees (later reduced to $550 by a magistrate).
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