Are judges, in general, just politicians in black robes? You can read one of practically numerous case summaries in the field of American jurisprudence, as presented here, and answer the question for yourself. When you come across other cases as well, ask yourself the same question and make your own conclusion.
Greene v. Wise (U.S.D.C., Western District of Washington, 2026): Now that the case has finally shuffled off the judicial stage, I can write about it in greater detail.
At one point, it appeared that the lady judge might be giving serious consideration to my argument. The issue itself was fairly straightforward: a write-in candidate who, thanks to the wonderfully user-friendly architecture of election law, had no practical path to the ballot other than running as a write-in through a primary election.
This possibility seemed to produce a mild case of “What’s she doing!” over at the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which was representing Director of Elections Julie Wise. Quite suddenly, the attorney who had been handling the matter was escorted back to the bullpen, and in came one of the office’s senior civil litigators to the mound. Depending on whom you ask, this was either the second-ranking civil case attorney in the office or the person everybody quietly knows is actually the first.
Was this substitution significant? Well, government offices do not usually start rearranging the furniture unless they believe guests, especially uninvited and/or not particularly gullible guests, are coming.
To my eyes, the move resembled a message, delivered without actually having to say anything. Not necessarily to me. Not necessarily to the public. Perhaps to no one at all. Maybe it was just an administrative coincidence floating through the universe at precisely the right moment.
I will leave the interpretation to students of ornithology, astrology, and tea-leaf analysis.
What happened afterward is, of course, equally open to interpretation. I am certainly not suggesting that someone fell into line. That would be an assertion, and assertions can be expensive. I am merely noting the sequence of events and gently placing the record on the table.
The tea leaves, meanwhile, speak for themselves.
— Mark Greene, Assistant Editor, ASLNL Blog
