U.S. Department of Justice

The Times 'Investigation'

More Jail Yadda Yadda?

Indict Me A Tenor

Sweet/Sour

US, County Jail Deal

King County has a preliminary agreement with the Dept. of Justice to prevent deaths and improve the unhealthy conditions in its aging downtown jail. But there seems no end to the county's non-denial denials. Exec Ron Sims says he is "gratified that this agreement acknowledges the jail improvements a ... More >>

Welcome to Washington, Mexican Drug Cartels

These guys like to make YouTube videos of their hit jobs.According to a Justice Department report cited in the New York Times, the Seattle and Yakima areas are seeing a surge in activity by those crazily murderous Mexican drug cartels...over the non-lethal substance that fueled Harold and Kumar's ep ... More >>

Janet Napolitano’s Sorry Service in Arizona Makes Her a Terrible Choice for Homeland Security Secretary

These guys like to make YouTube videos of their hit jobs.According to a Justice Department report cited in the New York Times, the Seattle and Yakima areas are seeing a surge in activity by those crazily murderous Mexican drug cartels...over the non-lethal substance that fueled Harold and Kumar's ep ... More >>

New Reversal in Alaska Corruptions Cases

Yet two more Alaskan corruption convictions, like that of ex-Sen. Ted Stevens, may be overturned due to Justice Department wrongdoing - which elated Seattle attorney John Henry Browne (left) yesterday when Legal Times called: "Thank God we've got judges like Judge Sullivan, thank God we've got lawye ... More >>

Washington's Third Senator Avoids the Slammer, Likely Saving Seattle Donors a Few Bucks

Just in time for April Fools Day, the Justice Department said it will be dropping its corruption case against Ted Stevens, the guy once known as "Washington's third Senator". Stevens was convicted in October of failing to report a bunch of gifts (including a home remodel paid for by an oil company), ... More >>

Check Your Faux Service Dog at the Door

Seattle’s leading anti-animal rights activist turns her attention to tightening the leash on service dogs.

Former U.S. Attorney John McKay Takes the Gloves Off on the White House

He has written what sounds like a closing argument for locking up most of the Bush administration.

Death Sentence

The feds throw the book at King County's jail as inmate fatalities skyrocket.

A Merger Proposal Emerges

Seattle Weekly's parent has been talking to New Times.

These Ain't No Seafair Pirates

Seattle Weekly's parent has been talking to New Times.

Ministry of Media

The well-intentioned Newspaper Preservation Act is an intrusion on free speech.

Waiting for the Bullet

The well-intentioned Newspaper Preservation Act is an intrusion on free speech.

Who Said It?

The well-intentioned Newspaper Preservation Act is an intrusion on free speech.

News Clips— Slade: Soliciting?

The well-intentioned Newspaper Preservation Act is an intrusion on free speech.

The privacy shell game

What one branch of government giveth, another taketh away.

Holiday Withdrawals

Seasonal shopping made even easier

The mouse that roared

Forget the feds. It's up to an obscure Utah company to prove what we already know: that Microsoft is a monopoly.

Hear here

Forget the feds. It's up to an obscure Utah company to prove what we already know: that Microsoft is a monopoly.

Is This Why Mexican Men Beat Their Wives?

Forget the feds. It's up to an obscure Utah company to prove what we already know: that Microsoft is a monopoly.

John McKay, Other US Attorneys: No Justice

​The Strange Case of the Fired US Attorneys - Seattle's John McKay among them - has been officially closed by the Justice Department with a finding of political but no criminal violations. The Bush administration broke only the laws of decency and fairness by manipulating the justice system, i ... More >>

Slipping Out of Darkness

Three years after the U.S. Justice Department demanded changes at the King County jail, some dangerous conditions remain.

Cops Gone Wild

Are Seattle police today really more violent, or just likelier to be caught on camera?

Ryan Robertson, Arnold Sharkey, Christopher Goldner: Jail Inmates 'Slumped' to Their Deaths

Sharkey.​Despite the oversight of the Justice Department and a new emphasis on preventing suicides in the King County Jail, it seems there is no way to stop inmates determined to take their own lives, judging by newly released records on the death of three prisoners who killed themselves in a ... More >>

U.S. Department of Justice Launches Formal Civil-Rights Investigation into Seattle Police Department's "Patterns" and "Practices"

​What started as a preliminary review into the Seattle Police Department's use of force and possible racial-profiling techniques has now escalated into a full-on civil-rights investigation. Jenny Durkan, the U.S. Department of Justice attorney in charge of the initial investigation, announced ... More >>

King County's 'Dangerous' Jail Cells: U.S. Finds Hazards that Enabled Repeated Inmate Suicides

​King County reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice more than two years ago to prevent inmate deaths and improve unhealthy living conditions in the aging downtown jail. Yet the suicides have continued at the Fifth Avenue lockup and now U.S. officials have found what they desc ... More >>

Jeanne Kohl-Welles: Failed Medical Pot Bill "The Greatest Disappointment of My Legislative Career"

​State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, the driving force behind the push to overhaul Washington's murky medical pot policies, announced this morning that she has "decided not to pursue further attempts this year to strengthen our state's voter-approved medical marijuana law."

Comment of the Week: The Medical-Marijuana Bubble Bursts

​This week, like probably every week for years now, we brought you news about the ongoing fight over medical-marijuana and states' attempts to legalize and regulate it. The latest news is that the Obama administration, through the U.S. Department of Justice, is "clarifying" (read: reneging on ... More >>

John Lloyd Kirk, Local "Sovereign Citizen," Sued for Promoting $8 Million Tax Scheme

Busted: Feds sue John Lloyd Kirk over $8 million tax scheme.​He spent 46 months in federal prison for making pipe bombs in the 1990s while a member of the Freemen, an anti-government group, but John Lloyd Kirk apparently isn't through sticking it to Uncle Sam. Yesterday, the Department of Jus ... More >>

Randy and Evi Quaid Win Their Extradition Fight, Can Stay in "Star Whacker"-Free Canada

​When we last left our intrepid batshit-crazy Hollywood refugees Randy and Evi Quaid, they were ranting about vengeful celebrities and performing rock songs about Tinseltown "Star Whackers." Of course all that craziness was against the backdrop of the very serious legal fight the couple had mo ... More >>

Should SPD Officers Be Required to Live in Seattle?

​Should police officers be required to live in the city they serve? It's a debate that played out nationally over the last decade, and one that's receiving renewed attention in Seattle, where only 18 percent of officers live inside city limits. That means the vast majority -- 82 percent, acco ... More >>

Justice Department Should Have Served Eggs and Sardines to Meeting Attendees

​Fiscal conservatives are outraged today by reports that the Department of Justice squandered half a million dollars on conference snacks, but some nutritionists are wondering why sodas, Crackerjacks, muffins and Swedish meatballs were served at high-level meetings. Brain function isn't enhan ... More >>

Seattle Police Department Used 'Intimidating' Tactics Against Officer Who Talked to Feds, DOJ Letter Says

​More than seven months ago, the United States Department of Justice opened a civil-rights investigation into the Seattle Police Department because SPD kept doing things like this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this. So what did SPD do when one of ... More >>

Lost Boys: Demolishing Underage-Prostitute Stereotypes

Federally sanctioned research sparks an outbreak of denial among sex-trafficking alarmists.

Search and Seizure

Medical-marijuana raids are big business for local cops and the feds.

Feds to Mayor McGinn: Stop Letting Seattle Police Shield Officers from Prosecution

​The U.S. Department of Justice says that the Seattle Police Department has so warped and misused a 44-year-old rule involving a sworn officers' rights to avoid self incrimination that cops accused of wrongdoing have an all-but-foolproof way out of trouble.

Mayor McGinn, Under Pressure from Feds, Promises 'Complete Revamp' of Seattle Police Department

​With the clock ticking on when the U.S. Department of Justice will release its likely-bombshell report on the Seattle Police Department's cowboy-esque use-of-force tactics and racial bias (rumor is it'll be this month), Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is looking to cast the first stone.

Seattle Police Department Regularly Violates Constitution and Federal Law, Department of Justice Says

​The long-awaited findings from a Department of Justice investigation into the Seattle Police Department's use-of-force practices were released today. And the results are anything but pretty.

Seattle Police Department, 'Broken' and 'Unconstitutional' Agency It Is, Somehow Still Doesn't See a Problem

​Beset on all sides by critics and host to a record of unconstitutional and illegal practices, the Seattle Police Department is proving once again that it simply doesn't get it.

Seattle Police: A Department in Denial

Why is the city's top cop still insisting there's not a problem?

The Seattle Police Department's Epic Crash: A History, In Brief

​There's a lot of talk going on now about the Seattle Police Department and its trouble using force without violating the pesky "Constitution of the United States of America". So how did we get to this point?

Department of Justice's Arizona Report Just as Relevant To Washington State, Northern Border

​With all the focus on the Department of Justice report slamming Seattle police, there hasn't been a lot of attention, locally, on the second DOJ report issued last week. There should be. That one, eviscerating an Arizona county's sheriff's department, could just as well be applied to parts of ... More >>

Mayor Mike McGinn Told by 35 Civil-Rights Groups to Stop Fighting DOJ Findings

​With all the focus on the Department of Justice report slamming Seattle police, there hasn't been a lot of attention, locally, on the second DOJ report issued last week. There should be. That one, eviscerating an Arizona county's sheriff's department, could just as well be applied to parts of ... More >>

Policing the Police: Will Seattle Residents Finally Get a Say in How SPD Operates?

​Despite KOMO News reporting the contrary, a "Citizen Oversight Committee" is not part of Mayor Mike McGinn's official plan for changing the unconstitutional tendencies of the Seattle Police Department. Still, some amount of "citizen oversight" will be involved in the changes. But exactly how ... More >>

SPDecay

A timeline of events that led to the DOJ's scalding review of Seattle's police.

SPECIAL BEST-OF EDITION

A timeline of events that led to the DOJ's scalding review of Seattle's police.

Rep. Mike Hope Proposed a Bill to Stop Seattle Police From Implementing DOJ 'Use of Force' Recommendations

​Rep. Mike Hope, a Seattle police officer when he's not in Olympia crafting new laws, had a bill in the hopper -- until it was pulled earlier this week -- intended to prevent the Seattle Police Department from implementing the recommendations from the U.S. Justice Department. In a blistering r ... More >>