Punishment in order for Justice Sanders

• Published November 30, 2008

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State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders has gotten himself into hot water once again — this time for heckling the attorney general of the United States.

Justice Sanders is well schooled on the law, but has a hard time understanding what is appropriate behavior and what is not. It's time for the state Commission on Judicial Conduct to investigate Sanders' latest shenanigans and determine an appropriate punishment.

Sanders just doesn't get it.

On Jan. 26, 1996, within minutes of being sworn in as a jurist on the Washington Supreme Court, Sanders walked across the parking lot and addressed those in attendance at an anti-abortion rally.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct, the state agency responsible for investigating complaints of misconduct by the judiciary, found that Sanders, by speaking at the anti-abortion rally, violated rules requiring judges to remain impartial on matters that might be heard by the court.

On May 12, 1997, Sanders was reprimanded by the commission.

An appeal

The Supreme Court justice appealed the reprimand to the Supreme Court, where he sits as one of nine jurists. On April 28, 1998, nine judges from the state Court of Appeals, standing in for the high court to avoid a conflict of interest, unanimously overturned the commission. The panel of justices said nothing Sanders said or did at the March for Life rally indicated he would be unwilling or unable to be impartial if faced with a case involving abortion rights.

Sanders was back in the headlines in 2003. On Jan. 23, he took an educational tour of the treatment facility for violent sexual predators at the McNeil Island Special Commitment Center. Sanders was warned in advance that he would come into contact with inmates and was cautioned by fellow justices that he might be stepping over an ethical line.

Sanders went anyway and as part of the tour, ended up speaking with inmates whose cases were pending before the court.

Once again the Commission on Judicial Conduct investigated and, this time in a split vote, admonished Sanders for his actions. An admonishment is a less severe punishment than a reprimand.