News May 26, 2022 at 10:30 am

The program aims to break the cycle of poverty, but should that really be the legal system's job?

Comments

1

As is evident by the deteriorating condition of Seattle, the Community Court (legalization of non-violent crime) ideological social experiment has failed spectacularly.

2

"The City Attorney’s prosecutor unilaterally screened Ted out of Community Court using the office’s newfound authority to bar people they label as “high utilizers” from the program. Instead, the prosecutor wanted his case dealt with in mental health court, "

The City Attorney has always had the authority to refer cases to RMHC. This is true regardless of whether the defendant is a "high utilizer."

4

ah more bezos-balls-sucking
Billionaire apologists
pointing that finger
DOWN at All
times.

“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” --LBJ who pulled Millions outta Poverty

5

Ah, all the wannabe Javerts crawl from the shadows...

8

I know this dead horse has been beaten mercilessly on this board but it would sure be nice for some of these articles to provide the full picture rather than a slanted view point that is obviously only meant to reinforce the author's predetermined conclusion. For example:

Ted was in court for theft and lying. What was he stealing? Food or big screen TV's as #6 noted.

How many times has Ted been in front of community court? Is this his first time or his 60th time?

If Ted has been in court in the past (which it sounds like since the author references the "high utilizer" designation) has he actually followed through with any of the treatment services or does he get out and go right back to stealing and using?

Is Ted even capable of making decisions in his own best interest? Sounds like no since the prosecutor wants him held for mental competence.

If we knew some of those mitigating factors it would be much easier to determine if the prosecutor was acting in the best interest of public safety. You see as much as it sucks for Ted at some point if Ted can't get his shit together and continues to victimize others then Ted is an asshole and the rest of the public need to take precedence over Ted and his fellow assholes. If we continue to let Ted skate by and he continues to repeat the same behavior over and over eventually you end up with this

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/man-accused-of-throwing-hammer-that-struck-8-year-olds-forehead-in-eastern-wa/

9

Drug court is not a “plea-to-play” court in King County. Defendants who go mainstream can still have a trial.

(Sorry, these details matter.)

11

yawn. the average citizen in Seattle really couldn't give two fucks anymore if Mr. "but I was just stealing booze to sell for dope!" gets chance number 239 for redemption.
it was feel-good for a while, my patience for it has run out personally.

12

Clicking on the "newfound authority" link produces an article from Publicola:

'The King County Department of Public Defese [sic] analyzed the “high utilizers” list and found that most were homeless or had undergone competency evaluations, an indication of behavioral health disorders.'

That's the caption to a pair of graphs, which together show that "most were homeless AND most had undergone competency evaluations (over the past five years)," so the need for Community Court in Seattle is driven primarily by Seattle's homelessness crisis. Said crisis is not driven by "poverty" or "survival," but by "behavioral health disorders," of which Substance Use Disorder is one.

As the comments here show, pretty much everyone except the Stranger, and the politicians the Stranger loudly supports, knows this. Yet the Stranger and friends continue to insist the Community Court sees "crimes of poverty," not "crimes of mental disorder." Ironically, that insistence reduces the potential success rate of the Community Court, as victims of mental disorders are far less likely to change their behaviors. The Stranger's continued dogmatic refusal to admit what everyone can see could harm the very Community Court the Stranger here champions.

13

@7,8,11. Much better articulated view point than this idiotic biased “article”. Poor Ted. “High utilizer”? Well what about the people affected by his crimes? Don’t they matter? Zero sympathy. None.

14

@13: Good luck with that, this is the Stranger, which openly mocks victims of crime: "...steals our catalytic converters, our precious, irreplaceable, catalytic converters???" (https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2022/02/18/66978601/slog-pm-biden-believes-russia-plans-to-attack-kyiv-spd-clears-12th-and-jackson-the-choco-taco-returns)

But hey, that's just the price you gotta pay for living in a city where the parks are full of filthy encampments, and dirty needles litter children's playgrounds.

(Does the Stranger actually enjoy making liberals sound like right-wingers?)


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