Latest From ACLU of Washington

A three-judge panel from the Washington State Court of Appeals declined a request from the campaign for Seattle Charter Amendment 29 (“CA 29”) to issue a stay blocking King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer’s order to remove CA 29 from the November ballot.

Today, King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer ruled that Seattle Charter Amendment 29 (“CA 29”), which proposed to establish city policy on homelessness through a vote by Seattle residents, violated state law limiting the permissible scope of local ballot initiatives in many ways and therefore should not appear on the November 2021 ballot.

A lawsuit filed today on behalf of the ACLU of Washington, the Transit Riders Union and the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness claims that a proposed amendment to the Charter of the City of Seattle is an illegal use of a local ballot initiative and violates state laws that mandate how local governments make and carry out plans for addressing homelessness. The lawsuit argues that the proposed Charter Amendment 29 goes beyond the scope of Seattle’s initiative powers.