State Supreme Court reduces suspension of King County's 'Judge Judy'

The state Supreme Court found Thursday that a King County judge who has been compared to television's "Judge Judy" deserves to be suspended for rude conduct on the bench, but reduced a 90-day recommendation to five days in a divided ruling.

Last year, the state's Judicial Conduct Commission censured District Court Judge Judith Eiler and recommended that the Supreme Court suspend her for 90 days without pay.

The commission found that Eiler, while using terms like "stupid" and "idiot," frequently cut off defendants when they tried to speak, belittled them and didn't allow them to present evidence. Eiler had previously drawn a reprimand from the commission in 2005 for similar conduct.

Eiler's attorney urged the court to overturn the commission's finding and impose no sanction, or impose a reduced penalty.

Eiler was first elected to the bench in 1992, and now sits on the King County District Court in Seattle after previous stints in Issaquah and other county district courts.

She could not be reached for comment on the court's ruling. Her lawyer, Anne Bremner, had previously noted that Eiler had drawn unfair comparisons to television's tough-talking "Judge Judy."

Bremner on Thursday called the court's ruling a "victory for Judge Eiler."

"It's important to recognize that these are issues of personality," Bremner said, noting the matters that led to the discipline represent "one-tenth of one percent" of Eiler's caseload.

"We want judges to be tough and have an orderly courtroom... ," Bremner said.

The court's majority ruled that Eiler violated one judicial canon requiring courtesy on the bench but dismissed three others cited by the commission.

Justices James Johnson, Charles Johnson and Tom Chambers and Justice Pro Tem Christine Quinn-Brintnall found that although Eiler "endeavors to achieve judicial efficiency and punitive effectiveness" in a high-volume court that mostly handles small claims and traffic matters, "we require our judiciary to be efficient and effective without being rude, discourteous, or demeaning."

Justices Gerry Alexander, Barbara Madsen, Debra Stephens and Mary Fairhurst dissented, saying Eiler should be suspended for 90 days.

Writing for the minority, Alexander said, "In my judgment, Judge Eiler's failure to improve her judicial behavior merits a sanction that is considerably more severe than the sanction imposed on the prior occasion."

In a separate opinion, Justice Richard Sanders concurred with the majority but only because he opposed a 90-day suspension.

Noting the four-four split, Sanders wrote, "Both choices leave much to be desired, but I believe suspension for five days without pay presents the lesser of the two evils we could loose upon Judge Eiler."

Sanders, who agreed Eiler had violated the courtesy canon, wrote that he favored a reprimand based on past sanctions for similar conduct and was endorsing the majority finding for "result only to avert the dissent's undeservedly harsh sanction."

James Johnson wrote the majority opinion; Justice Susan Owens did not participate in the case.

Eiler is facing a challenger in the November election: King County attorney and Judge Pro Tem Susan Mahoney. Mahoney issued a written statement Thursday, saying, "This is why I'm running: to bring ethics and professionalism back to the bench."

Information from Seattle Times archives

is included in this story.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com