Maintain the justice model Norm Maleng perpetuated

Norm Maleng's sudden death last week was both a personal blow and a reminder of how important the criminal-justice model he exemplified is to our community.

I recruited Norm from his successful early career at what was then the Preston Thorgrimson law firm to join a team of reformers after we won the 1970 King County prosecuting attorney election. Norm had been a volunteer in our campaign, but the main qualities that attracted me to him were his obvious intelligence and his early demonstration of interest in public service. Norm had been at the top of his University of Washington Law School class and was that year's graduate picked by Sen. Warren Magnuson for his Commerce Committee staff, an annual prize highly sought by ambitious law students.

My team that picked up the pieces and reorganized the office held for 22 years by Charles O. Carroll was a young, idealistic, nonpartisan group led by David Boerner, an active Democrat, as chief criminal deputy, and Norm as chief civil deputy. The others were Richard Allison, my chief of staff, and Gene Anderson, who joined us a year later as chief of the newly formed Fraud Division.

As we prepared to take over in January 1971, the group had serious discussions about what kind of an office ours should be. We wanted to reform what had been perceived as a partisan and political approach to criminal justice. Examples of the old way included deputies being "invited" to contribute to re-election efforts every four years, and the screening of applicants by local Republican Party officials before Carroll would agree to appoint them.

There were many rumors about "selective prosecutions," e.g., well-known Husky football players not being charged with traffic or other offenses while it was made clear to them that the office retained the evidence on file.

One bizarre thing I discovered on moving in was a section of drawers on the right side of my desk with passages between them and remnant wiring, indicating that those who conferred with Carroll on the other side of his desk (and maybe even telephone callers) were being recorded.

We determined that ours would be a professional, not a political, office, and on my first hiring trip to law schools I recruited new deputies like Jay Reich and Doug Jewett, who later became involved in politics in both parties. When I left office in 1979 and the newly elected Norm Maleng took over, he continued to be guided by this justice model.

In our last conversation, earlier this year in connection with a piece former Seattle Times reporter Ross Anderson was writing on the police payoff system, Norm went on at some length about the tradition we had established and how important it has been to maintain it.

The other part of Norm's heritage I want to mention was his genuine and unselfish dedication to the many ways crime and punishment affect our community. His personal attention to victims of crime is legendary. He was also well-known for spending his time on causes ranging from the Zion Preparatory Academy to the DADS organization in South Seattle, which helps single fathers learn by example how to be good dads.

My personal story here is how he helped my wife, Cynthia, organize a neighborhood group to combat residential burglary. Norm responded immediately to her call for help, made sure the right Seattle Police leaders were there, and came himself to talk with our neighbors about their concerns and what could be done.

Let us remember Norm Maleng as the quiet, effective and generous public servant he was. But as national attention is focused on the justice system, let us not forget how important it is to maintain in King County the justice model Norm perpetuated. Local officials would do well to keep this at the forefront as they deliberate on his successor.

Chris Bayley is former King County prosecuting attorney and currently chairman of Stewardship Partners, an environmental group based in Seattle.