King County lawyers vow to defend 'rule of law' from misinformation and intimidation

The Washington State Bar Association is calling on its members to act as ambassadors for the rule of law, and to combat misinformation about the legal system. The organization kicked off its Rule of Law Ambassador Program Thursday with public ceremonies in which lawyers reiterated their oath to uphold the U.S. and Washington state constitutions. More than 300 attorneys took part Thursday at the King County Courthouse in Seattle.

King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Ketu Shah administered the oath.

“I fundamentally believe that it is this rule of law that allows us to disagree but still resolve our disagreements peacefully and move forward," Shah said. "I think as a society we should all care about that.”

None of the speakers mentioned President Trump or his administration by name during Thursday’s event.

“For us, the rule of law is non-political,” Shah said.

But the administration’s actions were the clear motivator. Many of those packing the courtroom like retired attorney Joan Kalhorn said they came to send a signal to the Trump administration.

“Given the fact that right now the administration is not abiding by court orders, I think it’s really important to say, ‘No, absolutely not.' And this is one way to do that,” she said.

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Kalhorn cited the administration’s deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, despite a Supreme Court order to facilitate his return. Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen who the administration said was sent there as the result of an “administrative error.”

During the ceremony, judges from various levels of the state judiciary took their seats behind Shah.

King County Councilmember Jorge Barón also retook the oath.

“I’m a proud member of the legal profession and I firmly believe that in order to have a functioning democracy we need to support the rule of law,” Barón said.

He was previously the executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

“Particularly with relation to immigration this administration is going beyond the bounds of law,” Barón added.

King County Bar Association President Erin Overbey said members are also concerned about attacks on federal judges who have temporarily blocked many of the president’s executive orders.

“When you have rulings from federal judges that are disregarded, or a federal judge makes a ruling with which someone doesn’t agree and there’s an immediate attempt to impeach that judge — that isn’t how our system works,” Overbey said.

She said the bar associations also want to defend local law firms like Perkins Coie, which Trump has sought to penalize.

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After the ceremony, the National Lawyers Guild urged attorneys to walk from the courthouse up Third Avenue to stand outside Seattle's FBI offices to protest the recent arrest of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan.

Dugan is accused of trying to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest by federal immigration officials after the man appeared in her Milwaukee County courtroom for a pretrial conference April 18.

The Guild called for the federal charges against Judge Dugan to be dismissed and for the “filing of criminal charges against FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi for intimidation of a judge and civil rights violations.”

Still, Overbey with the King County Bar Association said many lawyers are waiting to hear all the circumstances of the judge’s arrest.

“I understand the judge was concerned about the process and how the person was being captured in the middle of a court proceeding where that person had to appear," she said. "But I’m not so sure everyone would agree about the way in which that happened.”

But Overbey said she supports the marchers raising their concerns.

“I think we all can agree that everyone who’s coming out to march in support of that judge, they are also exercising a fundamental and very important right, a First Amendment right,” she said.

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