Seattle Community Court will now officially have one less participant, the chronic offender. As blogged about last week, the City Attorney made a formal request that the Seattle Municipal Court exclude chronic offenders from its community court track. On Monday, the seven judges that sit for the Seattle Municipal Court agreed to honor her request. This means chronic offenders will not benefit from the rehabilitative aspects of Seattle’s Community Court, which seeks to release people from custody and connect them with services instead of jailing them. Seattle Community Court is a collaborative effort aimed at providing a path for people to have misdemeanor charges dismissed so long as they engage and embrace the program and accept services such as housing, employment support and alcohol/drug treatment.
As for who fits the criteria for chronic offender one only need to look at Ms. Davison’s High Utilizer Initiative. Folks who meet the criteria generally are the ones who are repeatedly being arrested for theft, trespassing, assault and weapons violations in-and-around Seattle. Time will tell how this helps resolve the perceived high level of crimes that have taken place over the past several years in Seattle. What say you? Do you support the Court’s election to exclude chronic offenders from community court?
If you or a loved one is in a bind as a result of a criminal charge, immediately contact a Seattle Criminal Attorney. A Criminal lawyer is not going to judge you, and understands that everyone makes mistakes. Hiring a Seattle Criminal Lawyer to help can – at a minimum – reduce penalties, and can help direct people on how to best deal with their criminal charge, and many times even get the charge(s) dismissed. So it should go without saying that someone cited for a misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor or felony should hire a qualified Seattle Criminal Lawyer as soon as possible. Criminal charges can cause havoc on a person’s personal and professional life. Anyone charged with a crime in Washington State should immediately seek the assistance of a seasoned Seattle Criminal Lawyer.
