Seattle Municipal Court Probation Office and Appellate Language Access Committee Recognized for Innovative Justice Work

Every year, the Innovating Justice Awards are given to those who have provided exceptional leadership in helping courts deliver innovative and responsive justice by promoting race, equity and access to justice, and apply innovative and community-driven responses that significantly impacted and resolved critical court system needs.

2023’s recipients were Seattle Municipal Court’s (SMC) Probation Office, two Supreme Court clerks and an Appellate Court judge.

SMC’s Probation Office was awarded for their work on the “Probation Evolution Project,” an effort focused on improving client outcomes and minimizing disproportionate impacts probation has on women and people of color.

Changes SMC made include replacing a risk assessment tool believed to be rooted in bias and institutionalized racism, standardizing case management, revamping their non-compliance policy and increasing training requirements for probation counselors.

The other award recipients were Court of Appeals Judge Michael Diaz, Supreme Court Clerk Erin Lennon and Deputy Supreme Court Clerk Sarah Pendleton for their work on an ad hoc committee to advance language access in the appellate courts.

As chairperson of the Washington State Supreme Court’s Interpreter Commission, Diaz’s leadership was critical to developing the content of the language access plan and the rollout to the court system.

Pendleton spent extensive hours researching language access plans throughout the country, and played a primary role in drafting the proposed statewide access plan.

Lennon was the first to question what appellate courts were doing to foster language access, and what can be done going forward. She then shouldered the responsibility of recruiting the ad hoc committee to tackle the issue.

The plan provides immediate language access statewide for those needing an interpreter in appellate court hearings or needing translated letters from the clerk’s office. A longer-term committee will continue to review the access plan to keep up with best practices for language access.

Read more from our annual State of the Judiciary report.