Barriers to Justice

Yesterday, the Washington State Supreme Court declared a 2006 law, enacted by a Democratic state legislature and signed into law by a Democratic governor, unconstitutional.

This law essentially required anyone who was suing for medical malpractice to obtain a "certificate of merit" from another doctor or expert, that their malpractice claim was "valid."

Aside from the constitutional issues, what were the state legislature and governor thinking? This requirement is a barrier for anyone trying to seek justice. It adds one more cost, probably an exorbitant amount of money, much less the amount of time to find an expert, get more tests, copies of medical records, you get the gist.

Also just a year or two before, the state legislature mandated that defendants in civil litigation had to also pay a filing fee if they wanted to counter-claim against the party suing them. For instance, if a home owner was being sued by their bank, if they wanted to counter-claim against the lender claiming predatory lending practices, they would have to come up with some money not only for an attorney but for a filing fee.

It seems we are becoming a society that is setting barriers to justice, making people walk through more and more hoops just to get their day in court. In Texas, an innocent man was executed because he didn't file the right paper work with the parole commission. Another man was executed because his appeal didn't get to a judge before 5:00 PM the night of his execution.

Are our lives and justice so expendable? Do we really think putting up more and more barriers to justice is a good thing?

Unequal Forgiveness

Taking a break from health care complexities, I listened to sports radio as I drove around on errand runs. Michael Vick has been "conditionally reinstated" to play in the National Football League (NFL). For those of you who may not remember, Mr. Vick was convicted and served 19 months in prison for his role in a gambling operation that was centered around using specially trained (and horrifically abused) pitbull dogs as fighting animals.

The two talk show hosts (one of them a local former University of Washington quarterback) went back and forth on the merits of this reinstatement. One of the hosts said he would not hire him, the other was far more forgiving.

I believe that humanity, what makes us all human, is the capacity to change. To reflect and re-think our behavior. I believe in second, third, fourth chances. But here is a moment, a very important moment, for many people involved in the criminal justice system. It is a time for the NFL to use it's influence, for criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, probation officers to all say that in America, we must forgive everyone. Not just some highly talented quarterback who can help some team win. There are hundreds of thousands of ex-cons who can not find work, who are not accepted into schools, colleges, who are shunned. Now is the time, right now, to have that discussion. And the best person to lead it?

Michael Vick.