By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent
Born in New York City, raised in Connecticut, and settled in Seattle for the last 13 years, Seattle Municipal Court Position 2 candidate and Judge Pro Tem Jon Zimmerman is a lawyer in private practice who told the Jewish Sound that he wants to bring justice and fairness to the court by helping disenfranchised groups, applying stricter enforcement of environmental law, and assuring open access to court proceedings.
Zimmerman is challenging sitting municipal Judge C. Kimi Kondo, who has been the presiding judge since 1998.
“I’ve represented consumers in federal court, immigrants and tribal members, students, and the elderly, victims of domestic violence and some of the most vulnerable and least advantaged in our community,” Zimmerman said.
“I’ve worked on Capitol Hill, in the White House for the Coast Guard doing environmental law there,” he said, “but I’ve had my own practice for about 10 years now and I’ve represented thousands of clients in 28 counties across the state, mostly in district and municipal courts, including the one I’m running for.”
The Seattle University School of Law graduate is 36, single, lives in Seward Park and often attends Sephardic Bikur Holim and Minyan Ohr Chadash congregations.
Zimmerman’s endorsements include the 46th District Democrats, the Washington Teamsters Joint Council 28, and the Cardozo Society of Washington State, the Bar Association’s minority bar for Jewish lawyers, who rated him as “qualified” within a rating system that includes exceptionally well qualified, well qualified, qualified, and not qualified.
To date, Zimmerman has raised over $36,000 in campaign funds while Kondo’s contributions total just over $25,000.
If elected, Zimmerman, who served as a pro tem judge in Seattle Municipal Court for three years, said he wants to help immigrants navigate the legal system.
In a press statement, Zimmerman said that many immigrants are “wrongfully mistreated and rightfully distrustful” of the justice system. He’s represented them in many courts throughout the state, regardless of their legal status.
“I’m not an immigration lawyer so that’s not a question that I ask,” said Zimmerman. “We have a lot of people who are working in manual labor jobs and are really just trying to make ends meet for their families.”
On this issue, Zimmerman reflected on his family’s historical experience, being immigrants themselves who came to the United States from Russia and had to make a living in a new country where the customs, the language, and particularly the laws were new and unknown.
“My ancestors were immigrants, too,” said Zimmerman. “A lot of things were not very familiar to them. The immigrants that I represent are certainly citizens of color and they may also be refugees as well.”
Zimmerman said he often represented many immigrants who are charged with minor driving offenses, which almost always impacts their ability to work.
“I strive to provide an ear to them and say, ‘Hey, I can help you,’” he said. “I’ve helped them to keep their licenses and I’ve helped them get licenses.”
Zimmerman also feels strongly about lowering the city’s dependence on magistrate hearings in lieu of hearings in open court, which he says deprives citizens of their right to a fair hearing in a public setting.
Although the city claims it is a budget-saving measure, Zimmerman said he doesn’t buy that argument, and that revenues from the courts are nearly twice the amount of its expenditures.
“All of our court proceedings should be open to the public, including the magistrate proceedings where unelected and unaccountable representatives for the judge negotiate with the immigrant without the full disclosure of the defendant’s rights,” said Zimmerman. “I think we can do a better job of giving everyone who walks into a court the respect and the presumption of innocence.”
Zimmerman is running to replace Kondo, citing her record as the “worst-performing judge” according to a Seattle Times survey of attorneys who rate the judges they appear before in Seattle and King County.
The survey asks respondents to rate judges based on legal decision-making, impartiality, integrity, and temperament.
“Judge Kondo remains last in these three categories, while she is next to last in administration,” said Zimmerman. “For me, being a judge is not about making the decision that I want to make and it’s not always about making the most popular decision. To me, being a judge is about making the tough decisions, and most of all it’s about following the law.”