City Council Launches Investigation into Police Judge
Corruption allegations involving the 'bartering' of justice lead to a formal probe by Seattle officials.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In the City Council last night a resolution passed instructing the Judiciary Committee to investigate the charges against Justice Cann and report at the next meeting of the Council. This action would seem compelled by circumstances; indeed, the card of the Justice himself left no other option. We are glad that the Council acted so promptly in the premises, for the city does not want any crookedness of her officials covered, especially of one whose office and solemn duty it is to administer impartial justice. If the Chronicle's charges against Justice Cann be true, he is even more culpable than Portland's Mayor, for while Chapman sold or pledged offices for coin, Justice Cann is charged with having made Justice a subject of barter.
“The city does not want any crookedness of her officials covered, especially of one whose office and solemn duty it is to administer impartial justice.”
Accusations of corruption and the 'bartering' of justice in local courts echo modern anxieties about the influence of money in the justice system. The City Council's move to investigate one of their own officials highlights a long-standing tension in Seattle politics between administrative power and civic accountability.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.