The Political Desk: Mild Court Press

Now I'm working more in the dark. There used to be a site called Voting for Judges which served as an excellent aggregator of  endorsements from the various groups interested in judges (like the various bar associations). That site is no longer in operation, and general political coverage tends to be a bit scattershot.

A lot of court positions are elected in Washington State this time, but the vast bulk of them are unopposed. So congrats to all the Justices who are lonely in their ballot box. I'm not going to do the research on you, not even for entertainment purposes. We have only two races that have any competition.

State Supreme Court, position 2 - The Seattle Times bemoans the fact that court positions are officially non-partisan, but the final choices are from a Democratic-supported candidate and a GOP-supported one. Because the position is non-partisan, but the candidates are not. Still, they (and 8 out of 9 other Supreme Court justices) support Sal Mungia, a lawyer out of Tacoma with a strong resume, solid endorsements from the legal community and a good track record on civil rights. OK, I can go for this. 

Superior Court Position 41 - Even less information than the State Supreme Court. The Times doesn't cover the race. The Stranger uses the space to mostly campaign against the established court system. Still, Paul M. Crisalli has gotten a hatfull of endorsements, including all the current State Supreme Court justices and 53 of his judicial colleagues on the King County Superior Court. So yeah, I can go for this.

More later, 

The Political Desk - King County Measures Twice, Shoots Foot

So, moving down from the state level to the county, we have two proposals. On is the King County Proposition No. 1, Renewal of an existing levy for Medic One – Emergency Medical Services. I'm good with Medic One, though I have to renew it every year, it seems. Yes, let’s go with YES on this on.

The other one is King County Charter Amendment No. 1, which is completely different from King County Proposal No. 1. This is to create an appointed office of county public defender, a department of public defense, and a public defense advisory board. Sounds like a lot, so the question is, why are we doing all this NOW? Don’t we HAVE a public defender for King County?

Well, we do. Well, did. For 44 years, we had four nonprofit corporations providing public defender services for King County. These tended to get high marks for their services than similar public programs in other cities. In the middle of the year, King County chose to end those contracts with the nonprofits and pull the public defender’s fully into the bureaucracy within a Public Defender’s Office. This was because of a court case from a public defender stating that the public defenders were de facto county employees and should be treated as such with regards to benefits.

I’m not so certain about the ruling and the result, as King County was noted for having excellent and progressive results with its non-profit approach, and (for once) I don’t think we are well-served to add another chunk of responsibility at a time when most government is seeking to privatize as much as possible. But that’s not what this measure is about. It is about approving the creation of such a department in a way that maintains much of their previous independence. I have my doubts, but I will go for voting a grudging YES on this.


More later,

American Justice

EX LIBBRIS

We did nothing wrong.
And even if we did, no one saw it.
And even if they saw it, no one will say.
And even if they say, no one will believe.
And even if they believe, there will be no evidence.
And even if there is evidence, there will be no investigation.
nd even if there is an investigation, there will not be an indictment.
And even if there is an indictment, there will never be a trial.
And even if there is a trial, there will never be a verdict.
And even if there is a verdict, there will never be a penalty.
And even if there is a penalty, no one will pay the price.
Because we did nothing wrong.
- J.Grubb, 2007

(With a tip of the lid to Frabjous Dave, safely in hiding in Canada, for the title.)

More Later,