This Washington
On Other Blogs Today, Early Installment: Justice Sanders Speaks
Outgoing state Supreme Court Justice Richard B. Sanders has written an op-ed in the Seattle Times
.
The Times withdrew its Sanders endorsement this election season after Sanders had been quoted saying African Americans had a "crime problem" because they commit a disproportionate number of crimes.
Sanders addresses the issue in his piece, arguing that the Times reporting didn't put his comments in context and arguing that their endorsement reversal—which he says cost him the election—has ironically ousted the Court's number one justice when it comes to individual rights.
An earlier guest opinion piece in the Times outlines that record, citing Sanders' righteous dissent in a "driving while black" case and his dissent in a case where a black man was sentenced to life in prison for stealing $300 from an espresso stand.
And Eli Sanders (no relation) at the Stranger —in a piece that was otherwise critical of Justice Sanders for his double standards on monogamy and marriage when he ruled against gay marriage —noted that Justice Sanders is proud of defending African Americans.
The Times withdrew its Sanders endorsement this election season after Sanders had been quoted saying African Americans had a "crime problem" because they commit a disproportionate number of crimes.
Sanders addresses the issue in his piece, arguing that the Times reporting didn't put his comments in context and arguing that their endorsement reversal—which he says cost him the election—has ironically ousted the Court's number one justice when it comes to individual rights.
My 60 seconds of comments came at the end of a 60-minute presentation by others. One staffer stated she thought our justice system was top-to-bottom racist. I asked her why she thought that. She said African Americans have 4 percent of the population but 20 percent of the prison population. I responded that this perhaps represents convictions for crimes committed rather than railroading innocent men to prison because of race. That was it.
I think the judiciary tries very hard to not let race be an issue — and I try harder than anyone else on our court. My record proves that.
An earlier guest opinion piece in the Times outlines that record, citing Sanders' righteous dissent in a "driving while black" case and his dissent in a case where a black man was sentenced to life in prison for stealing $300 from an espresso stand.
And Eli Sanders (no relation) at the Stranger —in a piece that was otherwise critical of Justice Sanders for his double standards on monogamy and marriage when he ruled against gay marriage —noted that Justice Sanders is proud of defending African Americans.
One of his proudest moments was taking the case of an African-American man who had been accused of molesting his foster child and was subjected to a polygraph test in an attempt to prove the claim. "The whole thing was bogus," Justice Sanders recalled. "We sued the King County sheriff, and we sued the polygraph operator, and won that case... I said, 'Only in America can someone like this go into the court system and be vindicated.'" (Then, laughing, he added: "Of course, that was before it was reversed on appeal.")
