For the People: King County District Court Program Promotes Civic Engagement

BY JUDGE ANDREA S. JARMON

“Judges are necessarily engaged in civic education. Through our opinions and our public appearances, we help the public understand the role of the judiciary in our constitutional system.”

—Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., United States Supreme Court

The sun was already brightly displayed in the sky on one of those summer days that makes the rainy norm of the Pacific Northwest almost immemorable. Against the backdrop of a beautiful sea of blue, the sun blazed hot enough in the early morning to start the quick melting of the five bags of ice packed on the floor of an SUV that for the next few summer months would be the cargo van for transporting the King County District Court’s (KCDC) tent, tables, chairs, banners, games, informational materials, and resources that would be used to staff a booth at various community events. As I pulled into the field area of Judkins Park, located in the heart of Seattle’s Central District, dedicated volunteers were already in place guiding a line of vendors and food trucks to their designated stations for the next two days at the Umoja Festival 2025. 

King County District Court Judge Karama H. Hawkins, who had already arrived, waved her hand as she excitedly welcomed me to our spot. “Well, alright. Good morning, Judge Jarmon. So happy to be with you again in community,” she said. It was her typical greeting and had become the one I expected to hear, even as we had just been at another event a few weeks prior. Her response is exactly what being engaged in community creates—a sense of joy and fulfillment in furtherance of service to the public and the community. 

KCDC’s Community Engagement Program, operated under the court’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee, has been participating in community events for several years. Through this participation, the DEI Committee aims to promote civic engagement, build trust, demystify the “black robe,” and meet the community where they are to hear from them, learn from them, and share how their court, the people’s court, is serving them. Redmond Derby Days and Celebrate Shoreline are among the community events where KCDC has long been a regular presence. 

Judge E. Rania Rampersad, who currently serves on the King County Superior Court, was the chair of the DEI Committee when she served on the district court bench. Speaking fondly and passionately about why being in the community was such an important effort for the court to make, she expressed, “Often people have the perception that judges and the courts are people and institutions that are inaccessible to them. It is incumbent upon courts and judges to make efforts to meet people where they are, so they have confidence that the court is a space for them as well.” With that at the forefront, the court’s participation is motivated by a desire to not just be present, but to invite the people into understanding, into conversation, and into connection. 

The King County District Court booth provides information about the court and its services. Informational brochures detail quick facts about court locations, the types of cases heard, and a snapshot of cases processed. Pamphlets highlight the goals and resources available in therapeutic court models such as the Seattle Veterans Treatment Court and Community Court. Visitors to the court’s booth can also obtain information about forms for passport applications, and other documents like name change petitions, small claims packets, and protection order forms. 

More than being provided with forms and other materials, members of the public can engage directly with the people who serve them, as volunteers include court clerks, probation officers, senior court leadership, and, yes, sitting judges. We answer general questions about the legal system, the path to law school, and what a typical day is like. Of course, with all the caveats that we cannot give legal advice, it’s incredible to observe the initial look of shock that then glosses over to skepticism, followed by genuine curiosity from members of the public who are pleasantly surprised to see the court and its members physically in community. 

We are increasingly witnessing the decline of public faith in democratic institutions. The judiciary, far from immune, has been a site of abandoned trust for many, particularly communities of color and those with limited financial resources, who suffer from what our Washington Supreme Court has recognized as ongoing systematic oppression and racial injustice.¹1 Washington Supreme Court letter, June 4, 2020, www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicUpload/Supreme%20Court%20News/Judiciary%20Legal%20Community%20SIGNED%20060420.pdf. The call of our state’s highest court to recognize our moral imperative to do the work to end racism is a call to which every member of the legal community has an obligation to respond.

That judges are uniquely positioned to educate communities about our court system, the rule of law, and the importance of civic education and engagement is recognized in the Judicial Canons.²2 CJC Canon 3, Comment 1. Judges being present in community creates the opportunity for connection; connection creates compassion; compassion creates understanding—and that creates a beautiful foundation upon which trust and confidence may be nourished and grown.

In the past few years, the court’s community engagement activities, with intentionality, have expanded to include the Kent International Festival, Rainier Valley Community Arts Resource Fair, Kenmore National Night Out, Muslim Housing Service’s Day of Dignity, and more. While the court had participated in the Paws & Pride Dog Walk in 2023, subsequent approval was denied when the court’s Executive Committee determined that participating in this event could be problematic under Judicial Canon 3.7, based upon the event being associated with fundraising, as a portion of the event’s proceeds were specifically promoted to go toward the Seattle Humane Society and Lambert House, both nonprofit organizations (one focused upon animal welfare and the other focused upon the empowerment and support of LGBTQIA+ youth). 

Questions about the KCDC DEI Committee’s participation in various events, particularly those characterized as “affiliation events held by diverse community groups,” resulted in a temporary halt to participation in many of the events while the court awaited an ethics opinion. The opinion would also address the court’s newly raised concerns about participation in cultural and religious based events; the gifting of public funds for items like gavel pencils, bags, and Post-it notes with the court’s logo that are distributed for free to the public; and allowing the public to take pictures next to a giant gavel with the court’s name in the background, with or without a judge in the photo. The latter is one of the most popular features of the court’s booth at community events. Youth and even adults enjoy being photographed while adorned in a judicial robe and holding a gavel. Speaking to why this was such a wonderful experience for youth of color, King County Superior Court Judge Josephine Wiggs, who formerly headed her court’s Courts in Community Committee, expressed that:

Giving youth the opportunity to see themselves as future lawyers and judges is a great experience. Sometimes seeing the possibilities is what allows it to be crystalized as a tangible possibility. To have them also see the very real example of that with judges of color standing right before them in their community makes it even more real and possible. 

The Ethics Advisory Committee, in Opinion 24-03,³3 Ethics Advisory Committee Opinion 24-03 is available at www.courts.wa.gov/programs_orgs/pos_ethics/?fa=pos_ethics.dispopin&mode=2403. confirmed the KCDC DEI Committee’s belief that its work was properly within the judicial canons and even confirmed that so long as the photos were not used for personal gain, fundraising, or promoting a business or cause, it was not a judicial canon violation to allow photos of youth and the public with the giant gavel and wearing judicial robes. 

Yet, the very inquiry itself raises a question about how the role of judges in civic and community engagement can be seen differently. There is general recognition and appreciation for judges engaged in more well-established formats like that of Street Law and Judges in the Classroom. The Street Law Program is a national program focused on teaching law and civics to high school students. That program, modeled after the one established by Georgetown University Law Center, was brought to Washington state by Seattle University Professor Margaret Fisher in 1982. In 2003, under Fisher’s vision, judges were added to pair with teachers in instruction. Judges in the Classroom, a program operated by the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts since 1996, allows teachers to request judges to attend classes and provide instruction, typically interactive, on the legal system. Students K-12 have the opportunity to learn about state law, learn about the various roles in the legal profession, and interact with a judicial officer. 

Under programs like these, if judges can go directly into classrooms in the community, then one must wonder why it is controversial for judges to show up in the communities in which those classrooms are situated. To answer that, in part, one need only look at some of the context in which the question was presented by the court to the Ethics Advisory Committee about this subject: “Some of these events are hosted by non-governmental organizations and require entrance or ‘table fees.’ Many are affiliation events held by diverse community groups. Among those non-governmental organizations were nonprofit religious organizations, nonprofit community-based social justice agencies, and other culturally focused agencies.” With increased diversity in the judicial officers serving on the bench and on the KCDC DEI Committee, almost naturally, there is a wider cultural lens that leads those involved to see the need to expand the reach of community participation into the more diverse communities served by the court. The DEI Committee’s booth was now not only in downtown Redmond and north King County areas like Shoreline and Kenmore; it was now at Rainier Beach, Judkins Park, and the Muslim Day of Dignity in New Holly. Last year, for the first time, the court even hosted a full booth at the annual Charles V. Johnson Youth and Law Forum. 

Showing up in these communities, these communities that are also a huge part of the population served by King County District Court, is so important because courts of limited jurisdiction are the people’s courts. These courts are often the entry point or first threshold of introduction to the legal system—whether for a service like a name change or passport or a criminal misdemeanor matter. So often when people come into the spaces of court, they come in a time of need, crisis, or at their very worst moment. The environment can be cold, foreign, and intimidating. The people, their titles, and roles are mysterious and uninviting. King County District Court Judge Hawkins has shared that:

Sometimes, members of the community express their gratitude for our court being present with them. Sometimes they share grievances. Bottom line: Outreach events give us, as judges, a chance to connect with the communities that we serve. We demonstrate by being present and in the moment that we care about the people that elected us to do this critical work.

Former court staff member Tenlee Bell shared that she loved being part of the DEI Committee. “Seeing the children wearing the robes and holding the gavels and being so happy is really great. I think this shows the community we are out there for them.” Whitney Eischen, Court Coordinator at KCDC’s Seattle location, doesn’t mind traveling to different event locations, expressing that, for her, it’s an honor to participate. When asked about the court and the services offered, Eischen said, “It makes me proud to work at KCDC!”

Through another crowd favorite, a civic education game called “Pin the Court” that was created by one of the judges, members of the public are introduced to the basic structure of the state court system and learn which types of cases and services are offered by the courts at the three main levels—municipal, district, and superior. It’s amazing to see how engaged people are with the game, the questions that it generates, and the conversation that it invites. Community member Tia Shabazz, who visited the court’s booth at the Umoja Festival in a previous year, said she believes “this is what our communities need.”  Speaking to the Pin the Court game, Shabazz said, “In five minutes, we get a whole lesson on our basic court system … and it’s fun!”  

Civic education and community engagement really go hand in hand. The beautiful aspect of showing up in community is that it creates the possibility to do both, with one lending credibility to the other. 

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LEARN MORE > With the summer months approaching, King County District Court is presently gearing up for this year’s community engagement roster. Community members that would like the court to host a booth at their event are welcome to contact the court for more information and a Community Engagement Participation Form. Visit https://cdn.kingcounty.gov/-/media/king-county/courts/district-court/dei-page-docs/community-outreach-participation-request-ec-edit.pdf. 

NOTES

1. Washington Supreme Court letter, June 4, 2020, www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicUpload/Supreme%20Court%20News/Judiciary%20Legal%20Community%20SIGNED%20060420.pdf. 

2. CJC Canon 3, Comment 1.

3. Ethics Advisory Committee Opinion 24-03 is available at www.courts.wa.gov/programs_orgs/pos_ethics/?fa=pos_ethics.dispopin&mode=2403. 

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