‘Justice delayed is justice denied’: Ursula backs $1M fix for Seattle case backlog but asks why city is paying again

Seattle’s criminal case backlog has KIRO hosts Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin supporting another investment in prosecutors but questioning why the city is still struggling with a problem it promised to fix years ago.

Seattle City Councilmember Dionne Foster proposed a one-time $1 million allocation to address about 5,000 pending criminal cases through temporary staffing and contracts with local law firms, under City Attorney Erika Evans’ supervision, according to the Seattle City Council’s announcement. About 1,700 cases involve domestic violence allegations.

On “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Ursula argued that the consequences extend beyond an overloaded office. Victims and the public are left waiting for accountability.

“I mean $1 million, and yeah, it’s $1 million that unfortunately is because the right things weren’t done before, and justice delayed is really justice denied for victims and for the public, and it’s imperative that we hold the criminals accountable, and have justice served for people who have been waiting too long,” Ursula said.

Gee also supported the funding, warning that budget cuts need to account for services already struggling to keep up.

“When you’re talking about sometimes cuts to things and making cuts, be careful where these cuts come from, because this has been a problem for a while,” Gee said.

A familiar problem across administrations

Ursula recalled that former City Attorney Ann Davison took office in 2022 with her own backlog. In Ursula’s account, Davison dropped nearly 2,000 older cases and promised changes to prevent another buildup, yet thousands remained unresolved when she left office.

For Ursula, the new spending proposal raised a frustrating question: Why is Seattle paying again to tackle essentially the same problem?

The backlog has persisted across three city attorney administrations. The announcement identified increased amounts of evidence and consistently high prosecutor caseloads as contributing factors. Evans warned that victims should not have to wait up to two years for a filing decision.

Gee acknowledged the difficulty of inheriting that workload but argued that they need more help.

“So Ursula, I say yes. I think this is a good idea. This is something that needs to happen. We don’t want to continue with this whole thing,” Gee said.

Officers’ work can end in another wait

Ursula also described the frustration she hears from friends working for the Seattle Police Department: Officers complete their investigations and paperwork, then wait for the city attorney’s office to act.

“They do the paperwork. Cases are referred to the city attorney’s office, and then they go nowhere,” Ursula said.

“Yeah, that has to be frustrating,” Gee responded.

Both Gee and Ursula supported Foster’s proposed funding. Their concern wasn’t whether the backlog deserves attention, but how long victims, officers, and the public have already waited for the city to address it.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio.