We hope the state Attorney General’s Office won’t take its own sweet time in resolving the case of Judge Michael Hecht of the Pierce County Superior Court.
If ever a state investigation needed fast action, this one does.
The charges against Hecht – frequenting prostitutes and threatening one of them – are serious enough, if true, to disqualify him from the bench.
And the plot continues to thicken. Previous allegations of prostitution came from two men, one of whom might have been under the age of consent when he said Hecht paid him for sex. Now Tacoma police have turned up a third man, who says he prostituted himself with Hecht in the last two years.
Two weeks ago, Salvador Mungia, president elect of the Washington State Bar Association, summed up the implications on these pages:
“Our role as lawyers is not to raise issues here that are personal to Hecht and that do not pertain to his ability to function as a judge. What is of interest is whether he violated the laws of the state of Washington by patronizing prostitutes, by engaging in sex with minors, or by threatening others with bodily harm if they disclosed such activities on his part.
“Engaging in any of these acts would severely undermine the public’s faith in Hecht’s ability to fulfill his duties fairly and impartially as a judge.”
The mere possibility that Hecht might have hired prostitutes has already crippled his effectiveness as judge.
County prosecutors won’t try criminal cases in his court, and they appear inclined to steer civil cases away from him as well. The state’s child welfare attorneys don’t want him handling their juvenile cases.
Hecht, who pulls down a $146,000 a year salary, could wind up with a very quiet courtroom. The Pierce County justice system – which is slammed with criminal and civil cases awaiting trial – cannot afford a judge who, for whatever reason, cannot do his job.
Hence the urgency of the state’s probe.
The Pierce County prosecutor’s office rightly handed the case off to the Attorney General’s Office to avoid a conflict of interest. The attorney general cannot let the allegations fester. And it should not abandon its investigation without settling them one way or another.
If Hecht did not hire prostitutes, the state needs to reassure the public of that – ASAP – both for his sake and the sake of the Pierce County Superior Court. If he did break the law, he should be speedily removed to preserve the integrity of the court.
Justice delayed is justice denied. In this case, delay will deny justice to a public that is being asked to trust its court system.
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