Justice rebuked for tour

OLYMPIA – State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders drew a rebuke from the state judicial watchdog agency on Friday for touring Washington’s sex predator center while residents had appeals pending.

An unbowed Sanders insisted he did nothing improper and said he will appeal to the state high court. Recently re-elected to another six-year term, Sanders was previously cleared of breaking judicial canons of ethics by attending an anti-abortion rally at the Capitol.

The tour and Sanders’ contact with defendants who had business before the court was first reported by the Associated Press in May 2003.

Prosecutors later complained to the Judicial Conduct Commission, which on Friday concluded that Sanders violated two canons of judicial ethics and undermined public confidence in the courts.

A seven-member majority of the 11-person citizen panel imposed the punishment of an “admonishment.” That is the least severe sanction. The panel could have voted to suspend or remove him from the bench.

The commission also imposed an unusual requirement that Sanders excuse himself from any cases dealing with the issue of “volitional control” – a cutting-edge legal debate over whether sex predators can control their criminal impulses.

Four commissioners filed dissents. Two said they agreed with the majority that his conduct was inappropriate, but said he didn’t deserve to be sanctioned. Two other commissioners said Sanders did nothing wrong.

The justice accepted an invitation from AndrDe Brigham Young and other residents of the super-secure facility on Jan. 27, 2003. The fortress houses about 170 sex predators who have served their criminal sentences. Civil commitments keep them there for an indeterminate amount of time.