Your annual reminder that the direct election of judges is a terrible idea.

Doesn't pass the sniff test, CJE's consultant is running his campaign. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…

Eli - Doesn't the fact that Shadid returned the money suggest that he's not in bed with those people? The bottom line is that it is really difficult to run a judicial campaign, regardless of how anyone feels about electing judges - its the system we have to work with. No one is paying attention to this election and its really difficult to engage voters and doners alike about why the Seattle Municipal Court is important. The fact that he is engaging the community at all (see giant endorsement list here: http://shadidforseattle.com/endorsements…) paints a stark contrast to his opponent.



He's managed to run a community based campaign - raising all of his money by working for it. He returned the DUI money. That was the right call - in the post-Citizen's United world we live in, it's exactly the move I would hope for from progressive public servants.

Creepiest picture on the internet today

CJE was formerly managed by Mary Ann Ottinger, a former judge who twice was punished by the Commission on Judicial Conduct for not honoring the right to counsel and taking pleas from unrepresented criminal defendants without an adequate waiver of counsel, and who was previously married to Steve Hayne, same lawyer who is now married to the candidate challenging a sitting judge who is endorsed by DUI pac.

@5, "formerly' "former" "previously" -- what are you trying to say with all those references to the past? Just come out with it.

These "low-level" judges hear thousands of cases including civil cases with amounts in controversy up to $75,000, can and do sentence people up to a year in jail, officiate marriages, grant protection orders, and other matters. I assure you that the people with cases in the Courts of Limited Jurisdiction do not feel these courts are "low-level" and it is important that qualified people are elected to these courts.

Further, people accused of DUI or other misdemeanors will need defense attorneys regardless of who sits on the bench so this is not about "business." I hope the Stranger supports the Sixth Amendment and the rights of the accused to an effective defense. For a liberal leaning newspaper, it sure seems like the writers have disdain for the defense bar. Every country has prosecutors but we are fortunate that our Constitution provides for individual rights and defense attorneys to protect those rights.