Seattle City Attorney Reverses Judge-Barring Policy

- The policy was initiated in early 2024 by then-City Attorney Ann Davison, who directed her office to file "affidavits of prejudice" to prevent Municipal Court Judge Pooja Vaddadi from hearing criminal cases. - Davison's office alleged a "regular pattern of biased rulings" from Judge Vaddadi, a former public defender, particularly in DUI and domestic violence cases, and claimed she improperly overruled other judges' findings of probable cause. - As a result of the policy, Judge Vaddadi, who was elected to the bench in 2023, was reassigned to handle only traffic infractions and other civil matters, a move that critics argued effectively overturned the will of the voters. - Judge Vaddadi has consistently denied the allegations, calling them "unsupported," "counterfactual, false, and defamatory," and has filed a formal complaint with the Washington State Bar Association against Davison and her former criminal division chief. - The implementation of the policy was described as a "blanket affidavit of prejudice" and was considered a rare and drastic measure that strained the resources of the Seattle Municipal Court. - The reversal of this policy by the new City Attorney, Erika Evans, was a fulfillment of a campaign promise and was praised as a move to restore normal court procedures. - Following the reversal of the policy, the ACLU of Washington dropped a lawsuit it had filed against the city on behalf of community groups and voters who argued the policy abused prosecutorial discretion and disenfranchised voters. - Judge Vaddadi contended that the move to bar her from criminal cases came shortly after she had disqualified a city prosecutor from a trial due to a potential ethics and evidentiary issue.