DOC accidental inmate release is why Lynn Peterson was fired

The assistant state Attorney General, Ronda Larson, who told the Department of Corrections not to recalculate incorrect prisoner release dates by hand, resigned yesterday. And the culture that allowed her to escape a public firing is why Senate Republicans fired Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson in a surprise confirmation vote.

Larson was apparently the first person in the Attorney General’s office that found out about the calculation error back in 2012. As a result, over 3,000 prisoners were released too early and we know of at least two deaths caused by inmates who were released too early.

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While it’s possible (and perhaps likely) Larson was pressured into resigning over this deadly and disastrous mistake, that she wasn’t publicly fired shows Governor Jay Inslee isn’t that interested in holding people accountable.

Why not publicly lean on Attorney General Bob Ferguson to oust her? Why not publicly call for this firing?

Larson clearly didn’t act with malice, but that mistake played a role in an incredibly serious DOC screw-up. While I don’t think we need to harp on publicly shaming her for weeks on end, I do think this kind of mistake deserved a public firing to show that the Governor actually wants to hold people accountable.

It’s this culture of letting people quietly resign (who should be fired) ahead of a three-day weekend that pushes some folks to take more dramatic actions to hold people to account.

Senate Republicans didn’t expect Governor Inslee to fire Peterson, despite the high profile screw ups (and lie) on major WSDOT projects. So they acted.

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