What happened to the justice process?

Not long ago, the Seattle Weekly published an article asking why Tina Long still had her registered nurse license. Ms. Long was facing federal charges of morphine and dilaudid theft while employed as a nurse at Morton General Hospital. Ms. Long allegedly admitted to hospital and federal officials that she drew the drugs out of the vials and replaced those drugs with saline solution. While Ms. Long was facing federal charges, the Weekly complained that no licensing action had yet been taken. The Federal charges were ongoing and Ms. Long had been terminated by Morton General Hospital.The Weekly appeared to be demanding license revocation. However, Ms. Long has rights that the Weekly seemed to ignore. A registered nurse license, like any other professional license, is property and as such cannot be arbitrarily taken by the government without notice and an opportunity to be heard. That means, in the case of Ms. Long, that the Department of Health must charge her and have a hearing to determine her guilt and the appropriate punishment. The Department of Health also offers diversion programs. In other words, the Weekly is jumping the gun – the pesky matter of due process must be observed.The Weekly goes on to note that drug diversion among nurses is not uncommon. The Weekly suggests that the Department of Health was being tardy in its duties. However, it might be that the Department was waiting to see how the criminal charges were resolved before taking licensure action. In other words, the Department might be acting responsibly and allowing Ms. Long her day in court before punishing her as the Weekly desired.