--- title: "Karen D. Moore | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-d-moore-judge-snohomish-county-superior-court-1990-wa" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-07-26" --- # Karen D. Moore Snohomish County - Superior Court · Judge ## Profile - Court: Snohomish County - Superior Court - State: Washington - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-26 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### photography recording Scope: statewide Washington GR 16 allows video recording, audio recording, and still photography by the news media in courtrooms only after the judge has expressly granted permission. Evidence excerpt: Video and audio recording and still photography by the news media are allowed in the courtroom during and between sessions, provided (1) that permission shall have first been expressly granted by the judge [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### limitations on recording Scope: statewide If a Washington judge limits courtroom photography or recording, GR 16 requires particularized findings on the record and treats open access as presumed. Evidence excerpt: Open access is presumed; limitations on access must be supported by reasons found by the judge to be sufficiently compelling to outweigh that presumption [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/index.cfm?fa=court_dir.persondetail&indid=1990&orgid=617) - [Official roster](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/index.cfm?fa=court_dir.persondetail&indid=1990&orgid=617) - [Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts official judicial roster](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/index.cfm?fa=court_dir.persondetail&indid=1990&orgid=617) - [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-d-moore-judge-snohomish-county-superior-court-1990-wa", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-d-moore-judge-snohomish-county-superior-court-1990-wa", "name": "Karen D. 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Moore", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-d-moore-judge-snohomish-county-superior-court-1990-wa" } ] } ] } ``` ## Biography ### Professional career - Snohomish County Superior Court judge in Washington State, appointed to the bench in 2021 by Governor Jay Inslee - She has been recognized as an academic feeder judge, with many former clerks joining law school faculties, and was considered a potential Supreme Court nominee in the early 2000s - Karen Nelson Moore serves as a United States Circuit Judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, with chambers in Cleveland, Ohio - Law degree from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University School of Law) and previously held the role of a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Idaho and Snohomish County ### Education - A.B. from Radcliffe College in 1970, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1973, also magna cum laude. ### Additional information - Nominated to the Sixth Circuit by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and confirmed by the Senate the same year. - Born 1948. - Moore was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, the only female member at the time, and clerked for Judge Malcolm Wilkey and Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, becoming one of the first women to clerk at the Supreme Court. - She held a position as an associate at Jones Day and later became a faculty member at Case Western Reserve University Law School, where she was the first tenured female professor and first woman to hold an endowed chair. - handling family, appellate, and criminal cases. - She also practiced civil law at Brewe Layman for two decades before joining the bench. - Judge Moore is active in community service, including the YMCA Youth Mock Trial Program, teaching Street Law, and supervising law students. - She is currently running for Division One of the Washington Court of Appeals, with endorsements highlighting her expertise in family law, fairness, and judicial temperament. ## Published courtroom rules ### Shared court rules - [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-7133c6bd26c80972b86e0d31) — Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim. Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory. [Official source](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf). Collected 2026-07-26.