Seattle magistrates balance fairness and fines
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Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
Every day, Seattle magistrates preside over a parade of parking tickets and traffic infractions, usually defended with a litany of excuses. The job requires legal chops, fairness and a BS detector of the highest order.
Why it matters: In Washington's busiest courthouse by case volume, magistrates absorb overflow and act as courtroom guides for people navigating infractions alone.
How it works: Seattle's seven elected municipal judges are supported by five magistrate judges, who are hired — not elected — by the court.
- Magistrate judges are fully qualified judicial officers and must be experienced attorneys to be considered for the role, according to the city of Seattle.
- They handle most traffic, parking and civil infractions and step in for the judges as needed, Seattle Municipal Court Presiding Judge Anita Crawford-Willis said in an email.
- When someone receives a citation, they can pay, contest or mitigate — meaning they admit the infraction but explain the context, magistrate Noah Weil tells Axios.
What they're saying: Not everyone is happy with the outcomes, said magistrate Lisa Mansfield, but they're usually satisfied "if they feel it's been fair, that we've heard them and really considered what they're saying, and we explain our decisions."
Cases in point: On a recent weekday, Weil dismissed a red light violation after a man provided photo evidence showing the car in the ticket wasn't his.
- He cut a school zone fine from $243 to $95 for a driver who claimed the lights were on after school began.
- Another driver showed photos of missing "No parking" signs and got a break as well.
- But a repeat offender got a warning. "Parking garages are expensive," Weil told the driver. "But it's probably cheaper than getting these tickets."
Follow the money: Seattle recently raised parking ticket fines to make them more expensive than a typical day in a garage — a move meant to nudge drivers off the curb, Weil said.
Between the lines: Common excuses — including "Someone on the street said I could park there," "I had my hazard lights on" or "I was just picking up an order" — rarely sway Weil.
- "'I was only gone a minute' isn't a defense," Weil said. "It's an admission."
Yes, but: Weil almost always tosses a ticket if a driver proves their disability placard had fallen out of sight — with photo evidence or a valid placard.
The bottom line: Judges don't set the rules, Weil says — but they do listen. "The goal is to help people understand the system so the infractions don't happen again."