SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council is considering new legislation that would create a legal loophole that would made substance addiction, mental illness or poverty a valid legal defense for nearly all misdemeanor crimes committed in the city.
The council's consideration of the plan has been largely shielded from public view and there has been virtually no public discussion about the proposal. Scott Lindsay, the former public safety advisor for the city, said Seattle would be in a class of its own if it ultimately enacted the ordinance.
"I'm not aware of any legislation like this anywhere in the United States (or) even globally," he said Monday. "All cities have criminal codes to protect their citizens from criminal acts. This would essentially create a legal loophole that swallows all those codes and creates a green light for crime."
The legislation was proposed by Seattle City Councilwoman Lisa Herbold last Wednesday.
The proposal would allow for the dismissal of crimes of poverty and it would do so by revising the definition of duress as a defense against prosecution.
Seattle police currently make about 12,000 arrests every year that are not DUI offenses or related to domestic violence. In 2019, charges were filed for just over 5,400 misdemeanor cases, not including DUI charges or domestic abuse allegations.
If approved, the ordinance would excuse and dismiss -- essentially legalizing -- almost all misdemeanor crimes committed in Seattle by offenders who could show either:
- Symptoms of addiction without being required to provide a medical diagnosis;
- Symptoms of a mental disorder; or
- Poverty and the crime was committed to meet an "immediate and basic need." For example, if a defendant argued they stole merchandise to sell for cash in order to purchase food, clothes or was trying to scrape together enough money for rent. The accused could not be convicted.
"If you don't feel very protected right now, this would wipe out almost all remaining protections that we have," Lindsay said.
The offenses that would be covered by the Seattle ordinance would include just about any crime below the level of a felony while excluding charges of driving under the influence or domestic violence...
Although the measure could radically alter the way Seattle levies charges in criminal court, there have been no public hearings about it and it has not been discussed so far by the council's Public Safety Committee...
