http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/21/female-prosecutor-in-us-attorneys-office-in-spokan/

Let me add a little context and information to this news story in todays Spokesman Review. The issue has been widely known in the Spokane Legal Community for quite sometime. The Spokesman Review has been aware of this story for over a year but chose to sit on it until the litigation was filed.

In order to get to the point of litigation Katherine (Jill) Bolton was forced to go through the entire EEOC process prior to filing her litigation. It is important to also understand that Jill Bolton’s EEOC Complaint was not the only complaint. One involving another female AUSA was settled prior to the necessity for litigation, and another is now going through the EEOC process. If during the course of the Bolton litigation depositions are made public my understanding is that they will paint a very negative image of the local US Attorney’s Office that will make folks wonder just exactly what is, and what has, been going on with our local criminal justice system.

Unfortunately some of the comments being made in the comments section of the SR lack any knowledge whatsoever of the dynamics of the situation. This isn’t a politically partisan issue it is an issue we all should be concerned about if the allegations are true regardless of one’s political ideology.

This lawsuit because of some of the allegations that have been made, and possibly substantiated during the EEOC investigation, may end up being settled out of court but who knows? If there is a settlement which most likely would include a gag agreement unfortunately the public will never know the details of the allegations or their validity.

The question at this point for the Spokesman Review to resolve is what knowledge did Patty Murray and Marie Cantwell have of this case?

This is Spokane folks…and things are a bit different here.