I was shocked to read that an honest attorney, whose revelations ended the reign of a corrupt judge, was punished by the Washington Supreme Court for bringing the matter to light. I have noted the names of those judges and I will not vote for any of them because they have shown me that they place a higher value on circling the wagons around corrupt judges than honest open government.

Think about it a moment. Who is in better position to know about or observe the bribing of a judge? And what a nice cover for the attorney who has a cozy relationship with a judge than hiding under the rock of attorney-client privilege like some pest that should be stepped on or sprayed with Raid.

I believe that it is incumbent on the legislature to send a strong message to the corruption tolerant judiciary that this kind of logic has no place in our government. Give specific protection to any attorney who whistle blows on a corrupt judge, even though it could violate the attorney-client privilege.

I sincerely hope that the House Judiciary Chairman, Pat Lantz, gives this issue a higher priority than she did to the reasonable efforts to enact greatly needed tort reform by refusing to even allow the bill onto the floor from her committee.

Matt Ryan
Bremerton