Kid’s Court: Local defense attorneys have noticed a change in Prosecutor Larry Haskell’s juvenile justice system
By Mitch Ryals
Published in The Inlander on November 12, 2015
Excerpt:
“When Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell took office in January, he found a drawer with more than 370 unresolved juvenile cases from the previous county prosecutor, Steve Tucker. Under Tucker, certain cases were kept out of the courtroom, allowing prosecutors and defense attorneys to find reasonable compromises without necessarily tossing every kid into the juvenile justice system.
“Under Haskell, that’s changed.
“For county prosecutors, clearing the backlogged cases represents a commitment to by-the-book prosecution. Haskell, who denies that his office is moving away from a rehabilitative bent, points out that there is nothing in Washington state law explicitly saying that the juvenile justice system is supposed to be rehabilitative.”