Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Innovating Justice Awards: Judge and Court Administrator Recognized for Creative Leadership

The Washington State Board for Judicial Administration (BJA) has presented Innovating Justice Awards to a Sunnyside court administrator and a Seattle judge for their creativity and dedication to keeping their courts operating and accessible during the pandemic while also addressing specific barriers for low-income and racially diverse persons caught in the impacts of the pandemic.

The Innovating Justice Awards were established in late 2020 by the BJA to recognize leadership during the COVID crisis that promotes judicial branch innovation as well as responsiveness to racial equity and access to justice issues.

“We are pleased to recognize leaders in the judicial branch across the state who are working hard to serve the public in difficult times,” said Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven González, who serves as co-chair of the BJA.

The February 2021 recipients of the BJA Innovating Justice Award include:

• Sunnyside Municipal Court Administrator Vanessa Engquist for adapting and expanding a drive-up payment counter in her court building to conduct court hearings and proceedings in a safe way. Engquist purchased equipment, installed outside canopies for court users waiting outside at social distances, arranged for Zoom proceedings with attorneys and more. She got her court up and running on the Zoom platform quickly, buying equipment and providing training and materials, so staff and judges could operate safely and incarcerated persons did not have to wait for hearings. This allowed many persons being detained to be released much sooner than they would have. “Our court did not close, due to Vanessa. Since the Pandemic, we have been able to process 150 cases a week, sometimes more, all because of Vanessa’s efforts,” wrote Sunnyside Municipal Court Judge Steven L. Michels in his letter nominating Engquist for the award.


• Seattle Municipal Court Presiding Judge Willie Gregory for taking multiple actions to reduce the Seattle Municipal Jail population when the pandemic hit, and working on multiple fronts to engage the community in evaluating disparate impacts of court actions on people of color, and in guiding changes to court processes. When the COVID pandemic hit, Judge Gregory worked to reduce jail population by considering motions to release, continuing out-of-custody appearances, and maintaining the in-custody arraignment calendar to ensure opportunity for release as early as possible. He signed a general administrative order that ensured people charged with low-level offenses did not have to sit in jail for misdemeanor warrants. Judge Gregory also adopted guiding principles promising to engage the community in guiding court programs, encouraged court leadership to build relationships in the community and view policies through a racial equity lens, committed to incorporating lessons learned from community surveys, and supported innovative changes such as elimination of discretionary fines and fees for criminal cases and launch of a new Community Court pretrial release program that connects participants with services instead of jail time. “Judge Gregory’s willingness to listen to new perspectives, his compassion, and his sincere commitment to ending systemic racism in the legal system make him an invaluable leader,” wrote the Seattle Municipal Court’s executive leadership team in their nominating letter.  

The Board for Judicial Administration plans to present Innovating Justice awards several times a year in order to highlight the creative, dedicated work being done in Washington courts to respond to the pandemic and issues of equity and access to justice. The BJA includes judges from all court levels in the state, along with officials from other judicial branch agencies, and is charged with developing policy and providing leadership to the state judicial branch.