SEATTLE — The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the Seattle City Attorney’s Office over allegations of “misuse of prosecutorial power.”
The lawsuit was filed Monday in a King County Superior Court, the ACLU said. In a release, the organization said the filing concerns a “mandatory policy issued in February 2024 by the Seattle City Attorney’s Office directing all assistant city attorneys to file an ‘affidavit of prejudice’ against Judge Pooja Vaddadi on all criminal cases.”
The ACLU said the mandate from the City Attorney’s Office has relegated Judge Vaddadi to addressing traffic and parking citations, “a function typically performed by magistrate judicial officers, not elected judges,” per the release…