SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Seattle City Council mulling most dangerous idea yet

Oct 23, 2018, 3:34 PM

Seattle City Council...

(AP)

(AP)

The Seattle City Council has truly turned over the city to the drug criminal vagrants. Unless the people sidetrack them, the council is about to do something unprecedented.

KIRO 7’s Linzi Sheldon broke the story that there is a group of radicals who want to eliminate probation for people convicted of crimes in the City of Seattle. Radical defense attorneys are conspiring with the most cop-hating members of the Seattle City Council to eliminate probation. I am not making this up.

When you pair a proposal like this with the dramatic amount of de-policing that is happening, this sounds like one of the most dangerous things our radical city council has ever considered. We are in some incredibly dangerous times right now.

RELATED: Blame the Seattle City Council for the criminals on our streets

Criminals who have served their time behind bars are often on probation for a year or two after they are released. It’s a way to keep track of them when they’re out among the public.

“Judges often times will either use probation after someone serves some time — the probation ensures that they are doing what they need to be doing that’s mandated by the court, whether that’s chemical dependency treatment or going to victims panels,” Sheldon told me. “Or, the judge [Ed McKenna] pointed out, they can use probation instead of jail.”

Sheldon explained that an alliance of social justice organizations called Budget for Justice showed up at a Seattle City Council meeting on Oct. 4. They announced that they wanted to take 90 percent of the Seattle Municipal Court’s probation budget to fund their programs. This plan came as a surprise to the court.

“The judges are saying this is the first time they are hearing of this, they’ve never been approached … This was a fully-formed plan, 24 pages, that was basically presented to them earlier this month,” Sheldon said.

She explained that the funding cuts could have impacts on other areas besides probation, such as the Seattle Veterans Treatment Court and the Seattle Mental Health Court.

Sheldon said that she does not know of any other municipalities that have eliminated probation. I did some research and also did not find any other jurisdiction that has eliminated probation. Trust Seattle to be radical enough to be the first legal jurisdiction to eliminate probation — to let the criminals run free.

RELATED: Ballard father doesn’t feel safe in Seattle anymore

Do you understand the seriousness of this — of letting the radicals be in charge? Seattle Municipal Court Judge Ed McKenna told Sheldon that over half the offenders on probation have committed serious crimes such as driving under the influence, domestic violence, stalking, and harassment. We would no longer be able to keep track of these dangerous offenders.

We enable criminals more than any jurisdiction in the country. So now, two things have to happen. The people have to get the city back from the radicals whom you have put in charge. You need to stop this being a one-party city. Democrats have ruined the city when it comes to crime, when it comes to drugs, when it comes to the judicial system. They are in the process of destroying this city. Someone needs to run who can restore some sanity to this city. We are tipping at the edge right now.

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Dori: Seattle City Council mulling most dangerous idea yet