It’s been a busy day for the city in court. Here are four updates — if nothing else, reading the briefs might just cure your insomnia.
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Judge issues early ruling in CHOP neighbors’ lawsuit, and it doesn’t look good for the city
This afternoon, U.S. District Curt Judge Thomas Zilly issued his first substantive opinion in the lawsuit filed by businesses and residents neighboring the CHOP. The lawsuit alleges that the City of Seattle violated their property rights and denied them equal protection under the law by allowing the CHOP to exist as a lawless area, and in fact supporting its existence. The city had asked the court to dismiss the case entirely, and short of that to deny a class certification for plaintiffs. Judge Zilly’s ruling on those requests is a mixed bag in terms of what he granted and denied, …
Continue readingA footnote to history: the state Supreme Court tries to repair a past harm to Black lives
Buried on page 13 of today’s Washington State Supreme Court ruling invalidating Initiative 976 is a lengthy footnote. It does something very unusual for a footnote: it explicitly overturns a 1960 ruling by the Court, in an attempt to make amends for an incredibly racist opinion that has sat on the books for sixty years.
Continue readingState Supreme court throws out Initiative 976
This morning the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that Initiative 976, Tim Eyman’s most recent “$30 car tabs” effort, is unconstitutional. The Court found that the initiative contained multiple subjects and that its title was “deceptive and misleading.” It overturned a lower court ruling that largely upheld the initiative.
Continue readingContempt charge against SPD for violating crowd-control weapon injunction inches toward evidentiary hearing
This morning U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones held a status conference with attorneys for the ACLU, Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County and the City of Seattle. They met to hammer out some of the details of an evidentiary hearing on whether the city should be found in contempt of Jones’s preliminary injunction restricting SPD’s use of crowd-control weapons. But those details, as it turns out, are messy.
Continue readingState-mandated court fines are sending Black people into debt — and to jail. SPD is making the problem worse.
(updated with some minor corrections in the details related to fines, fees and penalties) As one might expect for a Seattle-based institution, the Seattle Municipal Court has earned a reputation for pursuing progressive policies with regard to criminal justice reform. In recent years the Court has worked to reshape its procedures and policies for both probation and bail to address racial disparities. Most recently it has turned its attention to “legal financial obligations” or LFOs: the patchwork of fines, penalties and fees that are imposed upon those found guilty of breaking the law. The Court, in cooperation with the city’s …
Continue readingState Supreme Court tosses recall petition against Mayor
After hearing the case on an expedited schedule, this afternoon in a brief two-page order the Washington State Supreme Court unanimously rejected as “factually and legally insufficient” a recall petition filed against Mayor Durkan and certified by a lower court.
Continue readingCity, DOJ formally sweep SPD’s crowd-control controversy into consent decree process
This summer there have been two legal threads related to SPD’s use of crowd-control weapons: two similar lawsuits asking for restrictions; and the Department of Justice asking for and receiving a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking implementation of the City Council’s ordinance prohibiting the police department’s use of crowd control weapons. Earlier this week there was activity in the first thread; today there was an important update in the second.
Continue readingNew lawsuit challenges Seattle eviction bans, rent-installment-plan mandate
On Friday, the Rental Housing Association and a number of landlords filed suit in King County Superior Court to challenge the City of Seattle’s two eviction-ban ordinances and its ordinance requiring that tenants be offered an installment plan and up to a year to repay back-rent.
Continue readingLandlords file legal challenge to eviction moratorium
Yesterday a group of landlords filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to challenge the temporary bans on evictions enacted by Governor Inslee and Mayor Durkan, the extension of Durkan’s ban passed by the City Council, and the Council’s ordinance requiring landlords to allow tenants to repay back rent in installments.
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