Federal Way court hobbled by charges

Serious concerns about the mental and emotional state of Federal Way’s head municipal court judge have, to public appearances at least, fallen on deaf ears.

That’s a problem for the court and the administration of justice.

Nearly three months ago, the city’s police chief wrote to the city manager to recommend that Judge Michael Morgan be put on leave following a court supervisor’s report that he was potentially unstable.

Chief Brian J. Wilson, in the memo to the city manager, said “there is an immediate safety concern for Judge Morgan as well as the potential for workplace violence against court and City Hall staff.”

Wilson’s warning followed reports from a court employee who feared that pending, unrelated judicial disciplinary hearings were weighing heavily on Morgan, who has a history of volatile relations with colleagues and subordinates. She claimed he had threatened suicide and had said that “if I’m going down, others here are, too.”

Pretty serious stuff, if true. Warnings such as Wilson’s would prompt any sane employer to act. But Morgan has remained on the bench without interruption – and the public is at a loss to understand why.

City officials can’t say. They have no authority to suspend a judge – even one who might pose a threat to city employees. Judges fall under the oversight of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, and the commission is notoriously tight-lipped.

Under the commission’s rules, the Federal Way city attorney can’t even confirm that she has sent the police chief’s warning to the judicial conduct board. Generally, there are good reasons for such confidentiality, which protects complainants from retribution and judges from unsubstantiated allegations.

But the commission’s silence also leaves the public wondering what to believe. Complicating the situation is the fact that the state has no fast track to address urgent concerns about a judge’s mental or physical condition or to order emergency suspensions. The judicial commission could conceivably take months to sort through a complaint that a judge is mentally unstable.

In Morgan’s case, the crisis – if ever there was one – may have passed. A couple of weeks after Wilson wrote his memo, the judicial conduct commission disciplined Morgan for prior bad behavior. One of the conditions of his discipline was to undergo a counselor’s evaluation; Morgan says he complied.

But that’s still cold comfort for the people who show up in his court seeking justice, only to find the judge remains under a cloud himself.

There is one possible way to clear up matters: Morgan could waive confidentiality. With a judge’s permission, the commission would disclose information when either “public statements that charges are pending before the commission are substantially unfair to respondent” or a preliminary investigation has determined no basis for public accusations that a judge is unfit.

Morgan insists the accusations against him have no basis; if that’s true, then he should permit the commission to vindicate him.