Norm Maleng

Norman Kim Maleng (1938 – 2007) served as the King County, Washington, Prosecutor for 28 years.^[1] He was also an architect of Washington's Sentencing Reform Act.^[1]

Career

Maleng was born in Acme, Washington, and grew up on a dairy farm. Known as "Kim" during his youth and to those close to him throughout his life, he graduated from the University of Washington in 1960, then served as an officer in the military. He obtained his law degree in 1966 from the University of Washington Law School, was elected as Prosecutor in 1978, and was re-elected seven times.^[1][2]

Maleng was involved in a number of high-profile cases, most notably the 1983 Wah Mee Massacre, the 2006 Seattle Jewish Federation shooting committed by Naveed Afzal Haq, and the serial murders of Gary Ridgway, known as the Green River Killer. He was the prosecutor of King County during the investigation of Jerramy Stevens for rape, and was responsible for deciding not to file charges.^[3]

He ran for the Republican nomination for Governor of Washington in 1988 and 1996. In 1992, he lost an election for Attorney General to Christine Gregoire.^[4]

Maleng is credited with bringing several large scale policy reforms to Washington State's Criminal Justice system including passage of the 1984 Sentencing Reform Act, tougher penalties for car thefts in 2007 and rethinking the prosecution of low level drug offenses by placing emphasis on treatment options after a first or second offense, rather than lengthy prison sentences.

As the King County prosecutor, Maleng was responsible for one of the most embarrassing moments in the history of his office. He supervised the prosecution of Steven Titus, convicted of rape in 1981. Titus was convicted and ultimately cleared when an investigation by Seattle Times reporter Paul Henderson established that police had fabricated evidence and conspired with the trial prosecutor in persuading witnesses to change their testimonies. http://seattletimes.com/news/local/tituscase/lookingback.html Henderson received a Pulitzer prize for his work. Titus sued and won a judgment for monetary damages, but he passed away in 1983 from health problems associated with the stress of his trial.

Legislative accomplishments

• In the 1980s, Maleng supported reform of Washington State's sentencing system, turning it from an indeterminate parole system to a determinate scheme based upon the seriousness level of the current offense and a defendant's criminal history.
• In the 1990s, Maleng led the effort to crack down on drug offenders with longer sentences to fight the crime wave associated to violent drug dealing. Maleng later led an effort to reduce some of the longer drug sentences in lieu of treatment options for first and second time drug offenders. Maleng won support for his proposal to dedicate the money saved from the long incarcerations to long term treatment.
• In 2005 Maleng targeted chronic car thieves with his Car Theft Initiative (CTI). He dedicated deputy prosecutors to pursuing the most prolific car thieves in King County. Working with police agencies, the Prosecutor's Office targeted the "Top 20" car thieves in King County. After gaining convictions on all 20, the group pursued the next "Top 20". Maleng also went to Olympia and convinced the Legislature to increase the penalties for car thefts. These increased penalties combined with the concentrated efforts of police and prosecutors caused a dramatic drop in reported car thefts in King County from over 17,000 in 2005 to under 8,000 in 2008. Washington State has since dropped from 6th in the Nation in auto thefts to 26th in 2008.

Death and honors

Maleng died of cardiac arrest during an event at the University of Washington on May 24, 2007.^[1]

In December 2007, the King County Regional Justice Center in Kent, was renamed in his honor.^[5]

Later in June 2008 Harborview Medical Center opened Norm Maleng Building on its campus.^[6]

References