Power corrupts

Over the past several years there have been a number of cases that came through the doors of the Rosenberg Law Group, PLLC where it is absolutely clear that the respondent is not guilty. Nevertheless, the respondent was served with a statement of charges and found himself or herself caught up in an administrative hearing. During the subsequent negotiations, the various departments – the Department of Licensing, Department of Financial Institutions, Department of Health, and Department of Social and Health Services all are guilty of this – cling to the charges with a voracity that is bewildering. Once the statement of charges has been issued, gone is any search for the truth and desire that justice be done.The charging departments are meant to serve and protect the public. The departments often appear to forget this. It might be argued that they lose sight of their mission in the heat of the adversarial proceedings. Whatever the reason, all of the Departments that form the regulatory wing of the Washington state government need to take stock of their mission and approach prosecution with an openness that allows the right thing to be done.