Damon Shadid
WA · Seattle Municipal Court Judge
Damon Shadid is a Seattle Municipal Court judge who led its mental health court for four years and helped design its new Connection Court. He wants the court to link people to housing, addiction and mental health services while keeping the community safe.
Track record
Track record — General
General · 5 records
Wrote a separate opinion on 2024-10-03 that threw out DUI blood test results from 27 cases because the lab tested blood in vials past their expiration date. He found the city could not show those tests were accurate. The other two judges on the three-judge panel let the results in.
October 3, 2024
Source: seattle.gov
Won re-election to Seattle Municipal Court Judge Position 7 on 2022-11-08 with 69.3% of the vote (193,466 votes). He defeated challenger Nyjat Rose-Akins, who got 30.4%.
November 8, 2022
Source: results.vote.wa.gov
Presided over Seattle's Community Court for low-level crimes, as reported on 2022-05-26. He often turned down prosecutors' requests for arrest warrants after reviewing each person's record. When he did issue warrants, he used ones people could clear by coming to court on their own.
May 26, 2022
Source: thestranger.com
Refused in April 2022, as the judge overseeing Community Court, the City Attorney's request to bar people on her "high utilizer" list from the program. That list covers people with many police referrals. The City Attorney then asked the full court to overrule him.
April 22, 2022
Source: seattle.gov
Took part in the Washington Task Force on Race and the Criminal Justice System on 2011-01-20, representing the Middle Eastern Legal Association of Washington. The group studied racial unfairness in the state's justice system.
January 20, 2011
Source: law.seattleu.edu
Track record — Impartiality
Impartiality · 2 favorable
Criticized the City Attorney's office in open court on 2025-07-09 for its blanket policy of removing Judge Pooja Vaddadi from criminal cases. He said the policy went far beyond any similar policy in state history and warned it could raise ethics problems for the office.
July 9, 2025Favorable on Impartiality
Source: publicola.com
Returned a $1,900 campaign check from Citizens for Judicial Excellence, a political group formed by DUI defense lawyers, during his 2014 race against incumbent Judge Fred Bonner. He said he did not agree with all of the group's picks.
October 7, 2014Favorable on Impartiality
Source: thestranger.com
Track record — Legal Competence
Legal Competence · 1 favorable
Was elected by a majority of his fellow Seattle Municipal Court judges on 2024-10-04 to serve as Assistant Presiding Judge for 2025 and 2026. This judge fills in for the court's chief judge, who manages the court and assigns judges.
October 4, 2024Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: courts.seattle.gov
Past race Damon Shadid ran in:
- Seattle Municipal Court Judge Position No. 7 · November 3, 2026 · Seattle city, Washington · incumbent