PORT ANGELES — City Council member Max Mania wants the city to send a clear message that branding children is not OK in Port Angeles.
Mania asked at this week’s Port Angeles City Council meeting that, if possible, the city add branding to the legal definition of assault.
The request was made in response to a jury acquitting Sequim resident Mark J. Seamands on May 13 of second-degree assault charges for branding his two teenage sons with the letters “SK,” for Seamands kids.
The jury had trouble determining whether branding amounts to assault, partly since the children testified that they consented to the act, which was done outside of the Port Angeles city limit.
Mania said he was troubled by the verdict and thinks something should be done to clearly state that in Port Angeles, branding is assault.
“The jury is free to decide what they want,” Mania said Thursday, “but I hate to see the law being vaguely used as a rationale for excusing abuse, in my opinion.”
Mania admitted he wasn’t sure if the city could do anything about it, adding:
“I wanted to be able to bring it up as an issue.”
Mania said he is also concerned about the impression of Clallam County that the verdict would leave on people across the nation and around the world who read the story.
Asked on Thursday if the city has the authority to change how second-degree assault — a felony — is prosecuted within the city limit, City Attorney Bill Bloor said he won’t be able to say until he reports back to the council.
“I’ll have a report to the council in the next few weeks,” he said.
When asked again, he said he didn’t have an answer yet, adding, “Sequim passed a law against rain, so I guess the city can do anything.”
Bloor was referring to a 1995 resolution in which the Sequim City Council, tongue-in-cheek, prohibited, “weather that may disrupt the plans of its residents and visitors.”
State Attorney General’s Office spokeswoman Kristin Alexander was asked to clarify the city’s authority over the matter, but responded in a voice mail that she could not provide a comment because, “We don’t have jurisdiction over city-county type things.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
