Seattle proposal allows criminals to use poverty, drug addiction and mental illness as defense

SEATTLE, WA – Seattle doesn’t seem to be ready to leave the media spotlight.

The city councils’ creativity for the most heavily debatable topics and actions never ceases to boggle the mind. They are one of the leading cities for excusing unlawful behavior.

Some city leaders have even gone so far as to encourage radical behavior that is basically terrorism and label it as peaceful protesting.

On Wednesday, October 28, a controversial plan was introduced at a council budget meeting by the Seattle City Council. The proposal would create an unprecedented legal loophole which would give Seattle Municipal Court judges the latitude to consider crimes of poverty, mental illness and drug abuse as reasons to dismiss certain misdemeanor charges.

CM Lisa Herbold wants to change Seattle’s code when it comes to misdemeanor cases allowing judges to weigh poverty, mental illness or substance abuse disorder as defenses to get dismissals. Legal experts say it’s essentially a ‘blanket immunity’ for most misdemeanors #Q13FOX

— Hana Kim (@hanamkim) October 27, 2020

In basic terms, this proposal would allow anyone accused of a crime to use poverty, drug addiction, and even mental illness as a legal defense. Take a moment and think about what this actually means.

Under this new ordinance, the perpetrators of crimes will not have to face any personal responsibility. It would also make nearly every misdemeanor crime eligible for dismissal. 

Apparently, Seattle likes to make up and live by their own rules. The city council’s actions in recent months have shown a lack of concern for their law-abiding citizens.

Councilwoman and Public Safety Chair Lisa Herbold slipped the proposal three hours into their budget meeting without public discussion. This was also a chance to see if other council members would support the proposal.

The idea is based on a draft created by the King County Department of Public Defense.

Herbold introduced the proposal before the Select Committee on Budget because “it could possibly save the city money by reducing jail costs because municipal judges would send fewer people to jail.”

Equally on point, please read former Council President @SeattleMayorTim strong criticism of CM Herbold’s “extreme” proposal below and full link in his tweet: https://t.co/uXzzWZrCKf pic.twitter.com/9I4EqfSO5x

— Scott Lindsay (@splindsay) October 30, 2020

The council has not yet conducted a standalone meeting to discuss the proposal. If the Chair of the Budget committee, Councilwoman Theresa Mosqueda, adds it to the budget, the full council will take it up.

If she doesn’t, it only takes five council members to add it anyway.

Under the proposal criminals will get off if they show:

• Symptoms of addiction without being required to provide a medical diagnosis
• Symptoms of a mental disorder

The only misdemeanors that do not qualify for the excuse of poverty or addiction are Domestic Violence and DUI. The ordinance does not require a medical diagnosis for the mental illness section. “Imminent basic need” is used to excuse theft.

City Councilman Andrew Lewis, a former assistant city attorney who supports the concept of the proposal, had this to say:

“I don’t think that model ordinance in its current form should be the final thing the council passes. Should we really be in a position where we are criminalizing extreme poverty, behavioral mental health and substance addiction, which I would hope everyone could agree (that) we should not.”

Mental illness is not usually an excuse unless the person can convince a jury at the time they committed the crime their illness prevented them from understanding the difference between right and wrong.

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Not everyone is in agreement with the proposal feel that it was a deliberate attempt to pass it without public input. Former public safety advisor for the city, Scott Lindsay, gave a response on Monday.

He said:

“Seattle would be in a class of its own if it ultimately enacted the ordinance. I’m not aware of any legislation like this anywhere in the United States (or) even globally.

“All cities have criminal codes to protect their citizens from criminal acts. That would essentially create a legal loophole that swallows all those codes and creates a green light for crime.”

Scott Lindsay pointed out:

“If you don’t feel very protected right now, this would wipe out almost all remaining protections that we have. This is a back door to get this legislation into the budget process (and) not through the normal democratic processes with transparency, dialogue, (or) public discussion.

“This would absolutely open the floodgates for crime in Seattle, even worse than what we often currently struggle with. It’s basically a blank check for anybody committing theft, assault, harassment and trespass to continue without disruption from our criminal justice system.”

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