SMC Judges Meet U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brown Jackson
On Sept. 9, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was in Seattle as part of her nationwide book tour to promote her book, Lovely One: A Memoir, that was released on Sept. 3. The book traces Justice Jackson’s extraordinary path of her family’s rise from segregation to her confirmation on the nation’s highest court within the span of a generation.
During her time in Seattle, Justice Jackson, the first black woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court offered Washington state judges time for mentorship and recognizing the importance of diversity on the bench. SMC’s Presiding Judge Faye R. Chess, Judge Willie Gregory, Judge Anita Crawford-Willis, and Judge Pooja Vaddadi were in attendance.
More information was posted by the Washington Courts; read it here.
Community Relief Day Helps 250 People in Need
About 250 people attended SMC’s Community Relief Day in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood on Sept. 27. SMC staff were on hand to help attendees set up payment plans for Seattle traffic tickets, as well as address outstanding warrants.
Forty service providers were also present to provide supportive services in the areas of employment training, housing, behavioral health and medical services, legal resources and more. For those who pre-registered, it provided the court with sufficient knowledge to ensure language access by having interpreters available in Cantonese, Vietnamese and Spanish. Read more.
Seattle Youth Traffic Court is Underway
In an era with civics education on the decline, one important annual program at Seattle Municipal Court (SMC) is introducing Garfield High School (GHS) students to the judicial process through Seattle Youth Traffic Court (SYTC).
Youth courts take place nationwide and are primarily made up of volunteer middle and high school students with an interest in government. According to The Nation, there are approximately 1,400 teen courts in the U.S. that allow teens to be defended, prosecuted and sentenced by their peers.
On Oct. 21, about 25 students from GHS were officially sworn in to begin their (school-) year-long duties at SYTC. By statute, youth courts in courts of limited jurisdiction can handle civil infractions committed by individuals under 18. In fact, SMC has only handled traffic infractions in SYTC, but the cases have changed over time. Read more.
Legislators and Judges Meet for "You've Been Served"
The District & Municipal Court Judges’ Association (DMCJA) convenes an annual "You’ve Been Served" event to foster connections between state legislators and courts. This year’s event took place on Oct. 23 and had the theme Courts of Limited Jurisdiction (CLJs). Seattle Municipal Court (SMC) participated as a host site for the second year in a row, hosting legislators and colleagues from King County District Court.
The event is a chance for the judicial and legislative branches of government to come together and share their goals before the start of the Washington state legislative session. The next legislative session runs from Jan. 13-April 27, 2025, and is a “long session” year, which means the state sets the budget for the next two years.
Key legislative priorities for DMCJA include a funding request to continue the judicial onboarding program, a request for the legislature to introduce a bill to form a workgroup to update terminology regarding competency to stand trial found in RCW 10.77, and a slight technical change to RCW 12.40.060 (small claims notification). Read more.
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