LETTER: On court rules

To the editor and Columbia Basin Herald readers: 

Use your voice to tell our State Supreme Court not to cancel holding people accountable for their criminal actions. 

Court rules. You have probably never heard or cared about them. They are supposed to guide courts in how information is gathered, shared and processed to make decisions. They are something only lawyers could love, and not even most of them. There are some groups who believe criminal laws are misguided. They have tried to get the legislature to effectively remove criminal laws like drug possession and fleeing from the police. They tried defunding the police. They have been more or less unsuccessful. But they have found a new approach: Court rules. 

Court rules are passed by the State Supreme Court, not the legislature. The legislature cannot overturn them, nor can the people by initiative or petition. If the State Supreme Court passes a rule that makes it impossible to prosecute a case, the Court effectively decriminalizes the crime. During COVID a rule was passed that courts could not issue warrants for juveniles for many crimes. That rule made it impossible to prosecute juveniles who did not show up for court, effectively legalizing many crimes committed by juveniles. Two Court of Appeals Judges recently held that rule is unconstitutional because it effectively prevented prosecution of those crimes. That case is now before the State Supreme Court. 

There is another court rule the State Supreme Court is considering regarding the caseload standards for public defense that would drastically reduce the number of cases a public defender handles, cutting the number by two-thirds or more. I listen to citizens and crime victims who frequently say we do not do enough to hold people accountable now. The fact is there are not enough attorneys to go around, even if a lot of money is taken from other priorities, like classrooms or roads. Other counties in the state are delaying or foregoing prosecutions due to a lack of public defenders under the current standards. Grant County is not there yet, but it could easily happen. Many public defenders think this rule is unnecessary and a bad idea. If this rule passes prosecutors will have to cut the number of cases we prosecute by at least two-thirds because there will not be enough public defenders to represent defendants. We will be forced to prioritize only the most serious crimes, and not prosecute the rest. This will, in effect, decriminalize most crimes. The advocates for the new rule know this, they think it is a feature, not a bug. If you do not agree with these potential changes, which will lead to a drastic reduction in criminals who are prosecuted, ask the Supreme Court to not pass these court rules. 

The Supreme Court is accepting comments on this new rule through Halloween. Please tell them not to cancel holding people accountable, effectively throwing out our criminal laws. You can make comments at: https://www.courts.wa.gov/courtrules/courtRules.cfm#/. 

Kevin McCrae is the Grant County Prosecuting Attorney. The opinions expressed here are his own. 

Kevin McCrae
Moses Lake

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