Compassion

Compassion

As an outgrowth of an adverserial divorce, I had a surprising amount of litigation with my experience that Washington State judiciary is not governed by rules of law but by lawlessness and bullying tactics. Having lived most of my life under a government of law and having come to appreciate the values of a government of law (and supporting it as I am able), I was quite surprised to find this bastion of lawlessness. It is particularly incidious as the written decisions in Washington state pay lip service to the law (they comply with the letter of the law), they just lack grounding in rhe real world, they ignore the facts to accomplish whatever result is desired.

Having made it through all the Washington appeals and observed first hand that they just ignore troublesome details, I was getting pretty angry with a system that rides rough shod over the law. I considered orgainzing protests and whatever else would be required to force the judges of Clark County to follow the law. However, the problem with such an attitude is that such systems are really composed of people and in this case (as in all cases, really) the people are not really evil. They are just people like everyone else doing what they can to get love, acceptance, respect, etc.. If they are misguided in their efforts, then doesn't that warrant compassion rather than anger.

Also, while I might be able to force them to comply with the law in this case, it really wouldn't serve any useful purposes as they would still have the same tendency to lawlessness and bullying tactics. Indeed, it is up to the individual to choose a better way for their own lives. Adversarial conflicts never really bring fundamental improvement, just more anger and controversy. So, I have accepted that I will continue with my low key efforts to correct the problem (it is important that I live according to my principles), but also that there is a reasonable possibility that my continued efforts will be ineffective with people just ignoring my stance. What to do?

What I need to remember is that the outcome is not really important (that is beyond my control), but what really matters is my attitude as I express my opposition. I try to focus on being the sort of person I want to be (which is under my control) and that depends on my intentions. As I consider it, it is quite sad really. I imagine that the judges went to law school because they had a love of the law. It must have been so disappointing to discover that in Washington the law is just a sham, some form that needs to be followed in filing the papers but that doesn't really reflect what happens. As attorneys they had to learn to deal with the bullying tactics of the judges and exist in a system of strong arming and political favors. They may even have aspired to become judges so that they could fix the system, but by the time they had gotten to their goal, they had forgotten about their love of the law.

At West Point they had training for how to deal with illegal orders (which tend to creep in subtlely rather than overt discussions of how to overthrow the constitutional government of the U.S., which could be the end result), but I don't imagine that attorneys ever get that training. It would only really take about one third of the judges to change their behavior in order to change the system. Wouldn't it be wonderful if instead of going along with the group, individual judges would just say something like, 'I'm not going to sign anything like this. In these days and times all it takes is one wacko with a webcam to document this and have it go viral and then we have egg on our face. You can do what you like, but please make sure that my opposition is documented. I am not willing to risk it.' while thinking 'I didn't go to law school to undermine the law and I am going to do what is right.'

There is always a small percentage who are inclined to bullying tactics just as there is always a small percentage who are inclined to justice and the rule of law. It is what the people in the middle do that determines what the group is like. If only one third of the judges in Clark County and even Washington state were to decide that they were going to actively support the rule of law, the whole environment could be changed from a bastion of lawlessness to a stronghold of rule of law. And imagine how much nicer life would be for the judges. They would not have to worry about being exposed as everything really would be above board and in the open. They could also take pride in the fact that were living good lives and doing what they can to make the world a better place. Really that is already the case, but it would allow them to eliminate some of the queasiness about how some things get implemented.

The really insane part is that as far as I can tell, most of the judges are basically good judges and in the large part they stay within the spirit of the law. The only problem is that they are so sloppy on the letter of the law; it would be so easy to slightly alter their current procedures to follow the letter of the law, but I will talk about that in the next rambling tale.

Also, as the judges that I have experienced seem to be trying to do a good job of resolving differences fairly, why is that such a problem? What difference does it make if they don't comply with the letter of the law? As I see it the chief problem is that it is a slippery slope when judges start ignoring laws and constitutional requirements which are inconvenient. It creates an environment which is conducive to corruption and further excesses. After all if a judge ignores the law when it is inconvenient (and other judges go along with it) then it is tempting to ignore the law for personal gain (initially just for political support at first, but then for direct personal gain). Further, even if I (as a judge) resist that temptation, when other judges bend the law for personal gain, then there is nothing I can do about it as I am guilty of violating the law as well and am complicit in their violations.

Just as the first illegal order for an officer in the military starts out as rather harmless such as 'to fix that Readiness Report' which appears to simply further the careers of the officers involved without any real harm, once you start down the path of sacrificing your principles it is very hard to stop. If you surrender your principles in 'harmless' cases, then you are drawn to continue in other cases. It is like lying, after the first lie, you often have to lie to cover for the first lie and are soon trapped in a web of lies. Once you are in a web of lies, lying becomes more comfortable and you are tempted to lie in cases that are more related to personal gain.

The constitutional requirements and statutes that the Clark County judges ignored are not fundamentally important themselves. If the constitution and statutes were changed to correspond to the process used in Clark County, the process would be just fine. However, the judges of Clark County also need to resist appeals (which could expose their violations), which is further violations of the law (and now most fundamental violations). They are also tempted to ignore other requirements of the statutes (like the stated criteria for an Order for Protection) when those requirements conflict with their own feelings on the matter. They are headed down the path to strong man rules. If such unprincipled behavior becomes the norm, we will no longer have a government of law but rather strong man rules. Hitler and Stalin are dramatic examples of the excesses which are possible under strong man rules.

Now, for a little secret. Some of my web pages have had quite a few readers at times, but these rambling tales are written and placed for only a few special readers who are more thoughtful. This page may not be read by even a dozen people, but whoever you are, I ask that you join me in a prayer (or visualization if you are more comfortable with that) that the judges find the strength to turn away from lawlessness and bullying tactics and instead embrace the rule of law, applying their best judgement for the well being of all. Wouldn't that be wonderful. Wouldn't their lives be so much better, never having worries about being found out or doubts about the value of their contributions. Wouldn't the lives of all the people they impact be so much better with written rules to fairly resolve the disputes that come up in life. Why it might even happen that a really great saint could read this page and join us in our prayer. It could happen and wouldn't that be wonderful. Imagine her adding her prayers to ours and who knows the reach of such a prayer over the years to come. What positive changes it could make in Clark County, Washington state, the U.S., and even the world...?

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This page was last updated on March 15, 2007