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State bar wants Yakima judge investigated

Friday, February 25, 2000

By JACK HOPKINS Mail Author
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The Washington State Bar Association has asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to investigate a federal judge in Yakima who has come under fire for writing offensive notes about people appearing in his courtroom.

U.S. District Judge Alan McDonald's notes -- exchanged with his courtroom staff over a period of years -- reveal an apparent racial, ethnic and religious bias, the bar said in a written statement released yesterday.

"The alleged judicial misconduct strikes at the very core of the public's trust and confidence in the impartiality and integrity of our courts," bar officials said in their strongly worded criticism of the judge.

"The acknowledged statements about U.S. District Judge Alan A. McDonald involving the practice of writing notes about people appearing before the court . . . go to the very heart of the American judicial system," the officials said.

McDonald became the focal point of a swirling controversy early this year when the Spokane Spokesman-Review reported that the federal judge had been exchanging offensive notes with his courtroom staff for as long as 10 years.

One of the judge's notes disparaged Mormons, Jews and people of Chinese descent. Another likened labor union officials to mafia gangsters.

Critics also say he tolerated similar notes from court staffers, including one that referred to Hispanics as "greasers."

Word of the notes' existence sparked harsh criticism and some calls for the judge's resignation.

McDonald was not available yesterday for comment on the bar association's request for an investigation, his secretary said.

But the judge told the Spokesman-Review when the notes were first disclosed that they were never intended for the public and are being misinterpreted.

Most of the notes were provided to the Spokane newspaper by Kathryn Blankenship, who sued over being fired in 1995 after spending nine years as McDonald's court reporter.

A federal appeals court dismissed her 1997 civil-rights lawsuit alleging wrongful termination; her attorneys have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

McDonald was appointed to the federal bench by President Reagan and was confirmed by the Senate in 1985.

Based in Yakima, he has been on senior status since December 1996, drawing his full $141,300 salary while handling a reduced caseload.

The bar association, a non-profit organization which licenses the state's approximately 25,000 lawyers, said it doesn't believe the alleged offenses by McDonald are typical of other judges.

"To the contrary, the alleged acts and behavior are highly unusual and not representative of normal demeanor and conduct of our judges," the bar said.

P-I reporter Jack Hopkins can be reached at 206-870-7851 or jackhopkins@seattle-pi.

This report contains information from The Associated Press.

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