Advocates Oppose New Juvenile Solitary Confinement Legislation in King County
Seattle News:
Another lawsuit has been filed against SPD Chief Adrian Diaz, this time by SPD Captain Eric Greening, who is alleging Diaz discriminated against women and people of color. Greening is the sixth SPD employee to file a suit against Diaz in the last four and a half months. This count does not include the lawsuit filed by Officer “Cookie” Boudin against the department last November, also alleging racial and gender discrimination.
SPD Officer Daniel Auderer, the SPOG VP who was caught on body cam footage mocking the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, finally had his Loudermill hearing last Thursday. This was the last necessary step before Chief Adrian Diaz announces his disciplinary decision, which he must do within three weeks of the hearing. It is unclear if the timing of this hearing will affect Auderer’s receipt of the backpay negotiated in the new SPOG contract should the Chief decide to fire him.
Gennette Cordova wrote an op-ed in the South Seattle Emerald about the continued problem of violent and racist policing in the U.S. I suggest reading the whole thing, but here is a taste:
“Due to a massive hole in our budget, our entire city is plagued by a spending freeze and, in many departments, significant cuts — except for the police. Not only does their budget continue to grow but, this week, the council will vote on paying Seattle Police officers $96 million in back pay and raises, on top of their $400 million budget, while adding zero accountability measures.
As we approach the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, let this serve as a reminder that the pervasive problems with policing, and the issues that arise from the systemic defunding of social programs, that were all highlighted four years ago — are now worse. If making our communities, and our country as a whole, safer is a priority for you, we must renew the fight that so many left behind in 2020.”
The SPD recruitment bill passed Full Council this week with two amendments, one that requires more reporting on the 30x30 Initiative to recruit women officers and one that adds childcare provisions. The vote was unanimous, although Councilmembers Woo and Strauss were not present. The continued push to recruit women officers given the 30x30 report last year saying current women officers wouldn’t recommend working for SPD, as well as so many recent lawsuits alleging sexual discrimination, is concerning.
Another women died at the SCORE jail this March, raising the total death tally for the jail to 5 individuals in a period of a little over a year, which is quite high. SCORE has still to file 2 of the 4 reports required for the previous deaths. Rumors continue that the Seattle City Council and Mayor are considering a contract with SCORE for booking low-level misdemeanors that the King County Jail currently won’t book. Another possibility on the table is a contract with the Issaquah City Jail. As PubliCola reported, at least 2 people died at that jail last year.
There was a court ruling on May 10 regarding a group of protesters arrested in early 2021 for writing in chalk on the barrier around the SPD East Precinct, after which they were booked into the King County Jail counter to the currently standing booking restrictions. In the case of Tucson et al v. City of Seattle et al, the judge found that the decision to book the protestors was due to “City policy or practice to discriminate against anti-police protestors.” The judge further denied qualified immunity to the nine SPD officers named in the suit.
At next week’s Public Safety committee meeting, councilmembers are expected to receive an overview of the 30x30 Initiative and SPD’s latest 2024 Staffing and Performance Metrics report. Not on the agenda is further discussion of the Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) legislation. The Community Police Commission (CPC) said in its latest newsletter that Councilmember Bob Kettle is seeking feedback on the ALPR proposal. Here’s one quick way to send that feedback.
King County News:
At their Law and Justice committee meeting this week, King County councilmembers held a discussion on proposed legislation to modify the definition of solitary confinement for juveniles. This legislation was first discussed back in the fall with the stated purpose of of being able to provide one-on-one programming to juveniles in detention, but it was put on hold due to some legal questions. Now it’s back on the docket, and the ACLU Washington, the King County Department of Public Defense, Team Child, and Choose 180 all turned up to speak against the new legislation.
Chief among their concerns are the many exemptions this legislation would put in place that could extend the current 4-hour limit on juvenile isolation, which is currently the main protection for youth. Other concerns are a lack of time restrictions for one-on-one programming, which has the potential for abuse, and the lack of language prohibiting solitary confinement for juveniles due to lack of staff, as the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center (CCFJC) has been struggling with staffing along with the King County Jail. King County Public Defender Anita Khandelwal commented that the ordinance banning juvenile solitary confinement has been “chronically violated over the last several years.”
She continued, “Just this past week, one of our clients advised her attorney that she and the other girls only got out of their cells for a normal amount of time twice out of the eleven days she’d been in custody.”
Councilmember Claudia Balducci said she supports a ban on isolation in juvenile detention, but that the amount of violence in the facility has been increasing the last couple of years, the vast majority of which are youth assaulting other youth. She spoke of the need to protect the youth in the County’s care from being assaulted by others. She acknowledged that restrictive housing being used due to staffing issues is a problem.
The legislation would also allow a person alleging to have been injured by a violation of the county’s solitary confinement policies to recover reasonable litigation costs and make ongoing independent monitoring and reporting of the facility permanent.
The Law and Justice committee normally meets once per month on the fourth Wednesday, so unless an extra meeting is added to the schedule, the earliest this legislation would be up for discussion and possible vote would be June 26.
Washington State News:
We have news of how much was paid in the new Washington state capital gains tax for 2023: $433 million, down from $786 million paid last year, which was the first year of the new tax. As KUOW reported: “The top 10 payments accounted for $142 million this year compared to $394 million last year.” This volatility is particularly interesting as one of the most mentioned progressive revenue options for Seattle is a city-wide version of this tax.