“Zamboni” John Scannell Files for Washington State Supreme Court Position #5

 

 

May 20, 2016

“Zamboni” John Scannell files for Washington State Supreme Court Position #5

Former Hockey Zamboni driver John Scannell has announced he filed for election to Washington State Supreme Court Position #5.

He is officially on the ballot by filing the $1794.32 online to the Washington State Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State has approved his filing and he is listed on their web site as a candidate.

He filed for Position #5 which is currently held by Barbara Matson.

There is one other announced candidate, Greg Zemple of Ellensberg.

Currently a resident and an attorney living in Bremerton Washington, John is well known throughout the state for his legal work on behalf of Washington citizens.

He filed some of the first lawsuits in Washington under the landlord tenant act and has represented both landlords and tenants since then.

He has founded and been active in  both tenant and labor unions.

He was called the “bureaucrat’s nightmare by the Seattle Times for his lawsuit on behalf of intermittent workers which won millions of dollars for City of Seattle workers.

He blocked the building of one stadium by challenging its public financing, and he joined other anti-stadium activists in challenging others, all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

He won large settlements for demonstrators who were tear gassed and hit with rubber bullets during the WTO demonstrations.

As an attorney he made his living helping workers win their unemployment benefits and wage claims as well as drivers win their traffic tickets.

Zamboni John has been one of the few attorneys in the State that has actively been supporting the American Bar Association’s criticism of Washington disciplinary system.

The Supreme Court is in charge of the system, but the court has come under sharp criticism for 40 years for its practice of delegating its responsibility to the Washington State Bar Association. The ABA rightly likens this to the practice of putting the fox in charge of the henhouse, with Washington being one of a few states that still continue this practice. The result is that Washington has one of the lowest attorney charging rates in the nation.

Scannell has been active on this issue by filing Sherman Anti-Trust, RICO and Civil Rights suits against the Washington State Bar Association.

Although one judge ruled on his side about some civil rights issues, the RICO and Sherman Anti-trust claims were denied and are now pending in the ninth circuit court of appeals.

Two years ago, Scannell ran against Justice Stevens. He was soundly beaten but he was able to attract over 225,000 votes even though he ran virtually no campaign. Justice Stevens won with over 600,000 Washington voters casting ballots for her re-election.

This time, Zamboni will run a more active campaign, which will specifically target the unfairness of how the court performs its administrative activities.

Scannell will work to remove racial profiling and political influences from the attorney discipline program, as well as provide legal decisions that are intelligent, ethical, and just.