Seattle’s political Twittersphere has been lit up over the last forty eight hours with frenzied discussion of a proposal by Council member Herbold to introduce legislation that would create new defenses for misdemeanor crimes in Seattle. The goal of the legislation is to reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system for so-called “crimes of poverty.” Fanning the flames of the controversy is a white paper published by Scott Lindsay, former advisor to Ed Murray and former candidate for City Attorney, which claims that the legislation would eviscerate nearly all prosecutions for misdemeanors in Seattle by providing new …
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