PORT ANGELES — Two lawyers seeking to be Clallam County’s next District Court judge tried to make the case against incumbent Rick Porter at a candidate forum Friday by claiming that his courtroom decorum is unacceptable.
Candidates Tim Davis, a Port Angeles-based state assistant attorney general, and Port Angeles attorney Pam Lindquist also criticized Porter’s “pay or appear” program.
Davis and Lindquist said that Porter was known for not treating defendants with respect, even putting people into tears.
Porter said claims of arrogant and hostile behavior were unfounded.
He repeated a comment made by Davis earlier in the forum that he personally had found the judge’s courtroom to be “acceptable and pleasant” when he had practiced in District Court.
“Yes, I have a reputation of being a tough judge,” Porter said in response to the criticism.
“I hold offenders accountable.”
The three candidates for the District Court 1 seat will face off in the Aug. 17 primary election. Ballots will be mailed July 28.
The two top vote-getters in the three-way race will move on to the November general election.
Lindquist, at the forum that was hosted by the Clallam County Bar Association, said she had witnessed behavior she felt was inappropriate on the part of Porter in the courtroom.
She said Porter held a girl, who was charged with driving without insurance, “hostage” when he had her give him her car keys and required a family member to pick her up after finding that she had again driven without insurance when she came to the Clallam County Courthouse that day.
Porter said he did not keep her hostage; he had prevented “another violation of the law.”
Lindquist, a Port Angeles lawyer, also said that Porter had another girl booked into jail even though she had pneumonia.
Porter said she was not sick, but rather high on drugs.
In response to Lindquist’s comments, Porter also said that she had misinterpreted “constructive criticism” that he gave her when she practiced in his courtroom.
“Unfortunately, she didn’t take it as constructive feedback,” he said. “She took it personally.”
During her closing statement, Lindquist said she wasn’t trying to run a negative campaign, but that Porter had “decided to attack my ability as an attorney.”
“I’ve seen an angry judge” in the courtroom, she added.
Davis, a state assistant attorney general based in Port Angeles, and Lindquist also criticized Porter for his “pay or appear” program, which Davis said has turned the Clallam County jail into a “debtor’s prison.”
Porter initiated the program, after he was elected to the judgeship in 2003, in response to the more than $6 million in outstanding fines that the court had at the time.
The program eliminated the court’s use of a collection agency to recover fines in favor of a “pay or appear” program that gives a judge control over collections.
The program allows defendants to pay fines in monthly installments or substitute them for community service.
Any defendant who can’t pay is required to explain why in court.
If they don’t show up to court, warrants are issued for their arrests.
Davis and Lindquist both said that the program leads to too many arrests and places too much of a burden on the jail.
Of the 108 people held in jail Monday, 14 were there for violating the pay or appear program, Lindquist said.
Porter defended the program by saying it’s responsible for a $167,000 annual surplus that is used to help fund drug treatment programs.
Without it, he said, the court would just be a “paper tiger.”
In response to the “debtor’s prison” comment, Porter said those who are arrested for pay or appear warrants are not held in jail more than a day.
The two challengers differed on how they would deal with the program.
Davis said he would simply look for ways to improve it.
Lindquist said she would replace it with a new collections system that would send notices to those who need to pay fines. She did not provide further details on how it would work.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
