The city got a legal win in court today, as U.S. District Court Judge Brian Tsuchida dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Mayor Durkan’s May 30th Emergency Civil Order violated the plaintiff’s constitutional right to carry a gun.
Continue readingCategory: legal
State Supreme Court sets schedule to decide Sawant recall petition appeal
Today the Washington State Supreme Court set the briefing schedule for Council member Sawant’s appeal of a lower court’s certification of a recall petition against her, with an expectation that it will decide the matter in early January.
Continue readingCity responds to BLM contempt allegations
Earlier this week, the City of Seattle filed its response to allegations from Black Lives Matter and the ACLU that it should be held in contempt for violating a preliminary injunction placing restrictions on SPD’s use of crowd-control weapons. The city’s response is a strong defense to the contempt charge, but it raises many additional questions about the way that SPD handles protests.
Continue readingUpdate on proposed misdemeanor defense legislation (updated)
A couple of notable updates have happened in the last few days related to Council member Herbold’s controversial proposal to add new defenses for misdemeanors for defendants who committed an act to meet an immediate basic need or are showing symptoms of a behavioral health disorder. (update below)
Continue readingHerbold proposes to create new defenses to misdemeanor crimes
Seattle’s political Twittersphere has been lit up over the last forty eight hours with frenzied discussion of a proposal by Council member Herbold to introduce legislation that would create new defenses for misdemeanor crimes in Seattle. The goal of the legislation is to reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system for so-called “crimes of poverty.” Fanning the flames of the controversy is a white paper published by Scott Lindsay, former advisor to Ed Murray and former candidate for City Attorney, which claims that the legislation would eviscerate nearly all prosecutions for misdemeanors in Seattle by providing new …
Continue readingCatching up on the court cases: October 27, 2020
The various court cases the city is involved in continue to move forward. By the way, I keep an archive of the history and key documents in the cases here. Today: Fort Lawton, Che Taylor, and the recall of Council member Sawant.
Continue readingCatching up on more court cases: October 22, 2020
The city has a lot of legal oars in the water at the moment. Here’s another update with the latest developments.
Continue readingUpdate on court cases – October 19, 2020
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.
Continue readingJudge 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.
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