[FUTURE 42 SNOHOMISH | Dann Mead Smith]—There is a lot to keep track of when it comes to politics and public policy and how actions by councils and the legislature can impact us. We also cannot forget about the judicial system, from municipal court and county superior court to the state supreme court; the rulings at all levels impact residents. It is difficult to track court rulings as they are not often covered in the media and are not as easy to find online.
A new organization (that I serve on the board of), Full Court Press, is bringing much needed transparency to the state supreme court to start with plans to focus on local courts in the future. They have recently released their 2026 Washington State Supreme Court Judicial Scorecard. This new tool for residents highlights twelve rulings by the Court over the last six years and briefly explains: what the case and ruling was and “why this decision is significant,” and then in a graphic image shows how each of the nine justices ruled on each one.
The twelve rulings covered in the scorecard are divided into four categories: Public Safety, Protection of Constitutional Rights, Tort Liability, and Government Accountability. Many of the cases that they include impact all of us: drug possession laws including open drug use on our city streets, providing more power to judges to dismiss criminal cases, homeless encampment regulations by local citizens, and our state’s new Capital Gains Tax.
Unfortunately, many of these rulings are considered “political decisions” and are harmful to residents. Many court observers note that most justices have been appointed by the last three governors rather than first being elected by state voters and that decisions are unanimous or have only 1-2 justices ruling in the minority.
In a recent Seattle Times column by their editorial page editor Kate Riley, a Ballotpedia analysis of our state supreme court was highlighted, “Covering 2013-2022, the analysis of Washington State Supreme Court candidate campaign finance and court case outcomes found hands down that court case parties and amici filers ‘coded progressive’ were far more successful in favorable rulings (74%) than those coded conservative (14%). Also, progressive money was mostly on the side of winning candidates. The report is fascinating and well worth voters’ scrutiny.”
Most people have no idea how the nine members of the state supreme court ruled on these decisions, so when it comes time to re-elect these justices or elect new ones when a current justice retires, voters often skip these races when filling out their ballot. This results in incumbent justices being re-elected and often running unopposed for re-election. A dramatic example occurred in 2024 when there were three of the nine positions on the ballot: two justices ran unopposed and in the one competitive, open seat, 700,000 voters who voted for President or Governor two years ago left their ballot blank for this race. One can assume that the vast majority of these voters did not feel that they had enough information to make a choice between the two candidates: Dave Larson and Sal Mungia. Mungia won the race by only half a percentage point – 50.5% to Larson’s 49.5%, about 20,000 votes in a statewide election.
Citizens have a unique opportunity this year to change the direction of the state supreme court as five positions are on the ballot with only one longtime incumbent running for re-election (Position 7, the Chief Justice, Debra Stephens who has three opponents), two justices who were just appointed over the last few months will be on the ballot for the first time (Positions 1 and 5), and two seats are open seats (Positions 3 and 4).
Four of these five positions have multiple opponents so will be narrowed down to two candidates during the upcoming August Primary election, so now is the time to start learning about each candidate so you can make an informed decision on the one that best reflects your values and will follow the state constitution when ruling from the bench.
The Full Court Press judicial scorecard can be found on their website: www.fullcourtpresswa.org and the Ballotpedia study, “Analysis of Washington State Supreme Court candidate campaign finance and court case outcomes (2013 – 2022)” as well as a guide to the supreme court and list of each candidate running this year at www.wasupremecourt.org
About Future 42 Snohomish County
By turning frustration into action, we are building a diverse and engaged community of Washingtonians and Snohomish County citizens and fueling a wave of empowerment. We provide a means for citizens to make their voices heard and their actions count by respectfully communicating with local lawmakers on timely and topical issues including: Creating a safe and livable state, ensuring a more affordable cost of living, lowering our taxes, and providing an environment for our citizens and business to thrive.
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Source: Dann Mead Smith is part of Future 42 Snohomish County. This column originally ran in Business Pulse magazine.
Author: Future 42
