Public trust in Tri-Cities, WA Judge Sam Swanberg has been shattered. He must step down
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Accused Tri-Cities judge
Superior Court Judge Sam Swanberg is accused of assaulting his ex-wife and harassing an ex-girlfriend. Check in with the Tri-City Herald as we report the latest on the story.
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The robe magnifies the conduct.
It’s an old saying meaning judges must be held to higher ethical standards if they are to keep the trust and confidence of the people they serve.
Judge Sam Swanberg has been accused of harassment by a recent girlfriend and of domestic violence by his ex-wife.
And now, his credibility is shattered.
Without it, there is no way he can be effective as a Superior Court judge in Benton and Franklin counties. He should step down from his elected role and spare the community a long, drawn-out ordeal.
Swanberg vehemently denies the allegations made against him by his ex-wife. But he agreed to a one-year, modified no-contact order filed by his former girlfriend, Sila Salas.
His attorney, Scott Johnson, said Swanberg agreed to it because he knows he could have handled their breakup better.
If Swanberg wasn’t in a position of such power, acknowledging his improper behavior might be all that needs to happen,
But Swanberg sits in judgment of others — and now his own judgment is being called into question.
Swanberg is 55 and Salas is 24. He’s a judge and she was an employee in the Franklin County Courthouse when they met. At some point she changed jobs and now works in the Benton County Justice Center, where Swanberg has an office.
Salas said she felt continually harassed by Swanberg after she tried to leave him after a 5-month relationship.
“I am worried and stressed. I have addressed multiple times to stop contacting me and it simply continues to where Sam showed up at my office. I tried leaving the office and he followed me,” Salas wrote. “At this point I am not sure where to hide. I just want this behavior to stop.”
Swanberg should have known better than to start a relationship with a subordinate in the workplace. That he continued to confront her at work, overwhelm her with texts, emails and voice messages and ignored her pleas to leave her alone is clearly behavior unbecoming of a judge.
And it calls into question how the public will be able to view him as fair, impartial, wise and reasonable.
As an elected official, Swanberg can be removed from office in a regular county election or he can resign before his term ends in 2024.
We recommend the latter.
Swanberg has been on leave from Benton-Franklin Superior Court since shortly after Salas’ filed her petition in late December.
By agreeing to the modified no-contact order, he will be able to return to work at the Benton County Justice Center in Kennewick, but must keep 25 feet away from where Salas works in the public defense office in the building.
Our seven bicounty Superior Court judges handle civil and felony criminal cases, divorces, paternity and custody issues. It appears that for now there are no restrictions on which cases he can hear when he returns to work — although cases are assigned to judges by the administrative presiding judge.
As it happens, Swanberg used to have that role. Now it belongs to Judge Jackie Shea Brown. It will be up to her to decide which cases he handles. If there are a number of cases Swanberg shouldn’t hear, that causes a burden.
It isn’t fair to other court officials and people waiting for trials or rulings in personal cases to have a judge who can’t handle a full load — particularly when there’s a huge backlog due to COVID pandemic court shutdowns.
We imagine few will feel comfortable with Swanberg as their presiding judge.
And that is the dilemma.
So far, no criminal charges have been filed against Swanberg. The allegations of domestic abuse by Swanberg’s ex-wife are still at the “she-said, he-said” stage.
But the damage to his reputation is done.
Public confidence in Swanberg’s judicial abilities has been shaken, and we don’t see how he can restore it in the near future.
He should step down and allow someone else to be appointed to his post — someone who can walk freely in the Justice Center and who can hear any and all cases without a cloud of doubt hanging over the courtroom.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 10:46 AM.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to say that the only way Judge Swanberg can be removed from office is to be voted out during an election or by resigning.
