Lawsuits: Taxpayers, not agencies, pick up the tab

The News Tribune printed an article on July 20 about state school superintendent Randy Dorn suing the state and seven school districts. On July 21, the TNT printed an article about a federal judge fining the state’s mental health services for not performing.

Since school districts and state agencies are concepts, not actual persons, they obviously cannot pay fines. Only people can pay fines. So who is really being fined? Are the heads of these districts and agencies paying it? Of course not. The Washington taxpayers are. The articles would be more accurate if you wrote it that way.

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Lawsuits: Taxpayers, not agencies, pick up the tab."