Justice and the Bar

One of the projects CommunityWatch has had for a few years is working with the Washington State Bar Association to correct their process for dealing with criminal charges against members of the Bar. They're a large organization with complicated bylaws, and change takes time.

It's worth it, though, to ensure that we can have some measure of faith in the value and integrity of the Bar, and in the justice that is delivered to us through members of the Bar.

Members of the Bar are human, and cannot be expected to be other than human, with human weaknesses. There is one thing that separates members of the Bar from the rest of us: our justice is delivered through them. Will we go to prison or will the charges be dropped? Are the charges even legitimate? How can you tell? What are your rights - do you know? What does justice look like? Will you recognize it when it's presented to you as an option requiring an immediate decision?

Justice is the voice of the Constitution articulated from a distance of hundreds of years, and colored by thousands of trials and recorded decisions. Just is not the same as fair, it's not always pleasant, and the path to justice is not necessarily straight and simple.

Citizens of the US and of WA cannot hope to naviage the complexities of the justice system without assistance, and for that assistance we must rely on and trust in the intellect, courage, and integrity of members of the Bar, and of the Bar itself.