Scott Stafne
Scott Stafne (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Washington's 1st Congressional District. Stafne lost in the primary on August 7, 2018.
Stafne was a 2016 Libertarian candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 1st Congressional District of Washington.[1] Stafne was defeated in the top-two primary on August 2, 2016.[2]
Stafne was a candidate for justice on the Washington Supreme Court in 2012.
Biography
Stafne graduated from DePauw University in 1971 and earned his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1974. He also earned a Masters of Law and Marine Affairs from the University of Washington in 1977.[3]
Career
Stafne is founder and owner of the Stafne Law Firm, where he has practiced constitutional, land use, marine, maritime, admiralty, and personal injury law. He also serves as a maritime and fisheries expert and adviser to Pacific and North Pacific fisheries management councils.[3]
Approach to the law
Stafne's website provides a summary of his judicial philosophy:
- "Judicial power applies already existing law to already existing facts for purposes of determining such things as legal duties, defenses, and damages. Judicial power can be abused and substituted for legislative power when Judges fail to apply the law to the actual facts before the Court. This is because if judges are not deciding matters directly involved in the dispute before them, they are exercising general power, which is intended to control future conduct. Without requiring judicial power to be anchored to the facts of a dispute the Court has been asked to decide, a judge is exercising legislative power under the guise of judicial power. Instead of applying the law to facts, the judge has both created law and improperly given the imprimatur of judicial power to the judge's own naked aggrandizement of power not related to its Constitutional function."[4]
Stafne "believes [Washington's] high court needs a fresh voice with a depth of legal experience that can restore better legal interpretations to our judicial system. Currently he takes great issue with the Supreme Court for not following their own rules, accepting poor Court of Appeals decisions they do not challenge, and issuing poor judgments without adequately stating their reasons. . . It's time to shake up the Supreme Court with people who have more depth of legal experience than they have an agenda."[3]
Elections
2018
General election
Incumbent Suzan DelBene defeated Jeffrey Beeler in the general election for U.S. House Washington District 1 on November 6, 2018.
