Nerditorial: The Whatcom County Prosecutor Does NOT Heart Occupy Bellingham

 In the interest of full disclosure the reader is entitled to know that I am a participant in the Occupy movement myself, and I am not even trying to pretend to be objective about the events I am describing.


As I covered earlier here on Latte Republic, Daniel Young is being charged with Disorderly Conduct with Intent to Incite Violence. (Link.)

But that's not all...

According to legal counsel for Mr. Young, Herb Goodwin is also a suspect (or person of interest or whatnot) and is also expected to be formally charged with... something... some time soon.

Herb Goodwin. Former weightlifter/ZZTop Impersonator. Current Ambassador for Occupy Bellingham (photo by Perry Nord)

A decision to name a second suspect with a crime based on the February 28th "mic check"  takes on the unmistakable aroma of a blatantly politically motivated witch hunt against members of the Occupy movement.

Since participating in the Occupy movement has not (yet) been codified into criminal law, I'm assuming that Mr. Goodwin will also be charged with Disorderly Conduct with Intent to Incite Violence.

I was in County Chambers during the "mic check" and saw Mr. Goodwin.

His weapon of choice to "incite violence"?

An iPad.

Mr. Goodwin was brandishing his iPad while using it to document the "mic check".

That's it.

Listen up, folks... recording an open public meeting is not only not illegal, it enjoys a meaningful level of legal protection under the Open Public Meetings Act.

In fact... take a look at an excerpt from a document about the OPMA that is published by the MRSC ... http://www.mrsc.org/publications/publications.aspx

May a governing body prohibit a member of the public from tape recording or videotaping a meeting?

No, there is no legal basis for prohibiting the audio or videotaping of a meeting, unless the taping disrupts the meeting. If the governing body enacted such a rule, it essentially would be conditioning attendance at a meeting on not recording the meeting. This would be contrary to RCW 42.30.040, which prohibits a governing body from imposing any condition on attending a public meeting.

Now, I realize that the word "iPad" doesn't appear in the text but I assure you that argument is unlikely to fly in a court of law.

So, I suppose that an attempt could be made to argue that Mr. Goodwin was recording the meeting in a disruptive manner.

As I see it, the only way that using an iPad to record a meeting could be disorderly conduct to incite violence is if the meeting is taking place in Bill Gates' house. I don't think Bill Gates lives in the Whatcom County Courthouse, so that legal theory appears to be shot to hell.

The County Prosecutor appears to have told the County Council one thing in the April 10th Special Committee of the Whole and is now doing something else entirely.
The minutes for April 10 CotW meeting, include the following:

[Member of Council] Brenner stated she would like to press charges against the one person who organized the most recent disruption. [County Prosecutor] McEachran stated the Council doesn’t need to vote on that.

The minutes make no mention of any request to prosecute any second person in terms of the February 28th event.

So, the Prosecutor wasn't asked by any Member of Council to do anything more than to investigate one person. Furthermore, in light of the fact that the citizen who was trying to knock the iPad from Herb's hands has not been investigated or charged with anything, it is within reason to make the supposition that the County Prosecutor has decided to exercise the full range of his prosecutorial discretion in a peculiarly selective manner. It looks like the Prosecutor is targeting those who hold political views with which he personally disagrees.

Herb Goodwin is a stand-up guy, and a highly active and visible member of Occupy Bellingham. The world is a better place just because people like Herb are in it.

Herb Goodwin at the Maritime Heritage Park Encampment. He holds in his hand the case for his violence incitin' iPad. Suck it, Bill Gates. (photo by Perry Nord)

Even if you disagree with the Occupy movement, I submit that Mr. Goodwin deserves better than this.

Prosecution of Mr Young for the February 28th mic check sends a chilling message to attendees of County Council meetings. But the notion that a citizen risks criminal prosecution for choosing to document what happens at a Council Meeting is a blast of liquid nitrogen by comparison, and a possible violation of the Open Public Meetings Act to boot.

Please contact the County Prosecutor's office, the County Executive, and the County Council and urge them all to reconsider the decision to prosecute Herb Goodwin before formal charges are filed.

County Council council@co.whatcom.wa.us (360) 676-6690

County Executive jlouws@co.whatcom.wa.us  (360) 676 6717

County Prosecutor (360) 676-6784 (I was unable to find the County Prosecutor's email address on the county website.)