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closeA drumbeat for disciplinary action against state Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders has sounded, and some sanction may be warranted.
But let's keep things in perspective. A stern finger-wagging might be appropriate.
Sanders' crime -- he's already admitted guilt -- is behaving boorishly during a recent speech by Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
The lecture, delivered at a Federalist Society dinner in Washington, D.C., drew worldwide attention after Mukasey fainted at the podium.
Bad luck for Sanders. His outburst might not have received much attention if the attorney general hadn't left the banquet in an ambulance.
But that odd turn of events bestowed significance to reports from audience members that someone had shouted, "Tyrant! You are a tyrant!" midway through Mukasey's speech.
Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, a one-time admirer of Sanders from her days at the Seattle Times, was the first to identify the judge as the heckler.
Oddly, Sanders' initial comments about his actions were misleading, leaving reporters who chased Malkin's blog with the false impression that she'd gotten the story wrong.
Sanders didn't exactly lie. He told reporters he wasn't at the banquet when Mukasey collapsed, and that he didn't learn of the incident until the next morning.
All true, since he rushed out soon after losing his temper, while Mukasey didn't faint for another 15 minutes. But the questions raised by Malkin's report called for candor, and Sanders fell short.
Better sense -- or maybe the realization that his obfuscate answers were being reported as an outright denial -- soon prevailed, and Sanders came clean.
Both pieces -- Sanders' shout and delay in owning up to it -- raise questions that warrant a closer look. But the incident is consistent with a libertarian streak that Sanders never has tried to hide.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct has twice investigated him for allegedly violating judicial rules. The first time was for addressing an anti-abortion rally, and Sanders later was exonerated.
The second time was for inappropriate discussions with prisoners during a Supreme Court visit to McNeil Island. He says he inadvertently talked to one inmate who had a case pending before the court.
Commission members found fault, however, and admonished Sanders, which is the lowest of level of sanction in their tool box.
Last week, Sanders confessed he lost his temper after listening to Mukasey defend the Bush administration's counterterrorism practices at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.
"Frankly, everybody in the room was applauding or sometimes laughing, and I thought, 'I've got to stand up and say something.' And I did," he told the Seattle Times.
Sanders behaved poorly. As a member of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policies, he should have been more courteous to their guest.
The prominent group of conservative and libertarian legal professionals is working to counter liberal ideology in the law schools and courtrooms.
The purpose is to reorder "priorities within the legal system to place a premium on individual liberty, traditional values and the rule of law," according to the group's website.
Sanders hardly is alone among conservatives in thinking all three of those priorities were weakened by Bush administration policies in the wake of 9/11.
That doesn't excuse his behavior. After all, Sanders isn't a college sophomore and the dinner wasn't a rally on the quad.
In other words, the situation called for decorum and respect. Sanders displayed neither.
But we suspect he'll suffer no lasting harm to his judicial career because of it. His reputation as a rebel in a black robe hasn't hurt him at the polls. He won his two re-election bids with more than 60 percent of the vote.
We've described him in this column as "a tough-minded, quick-witted justice who champions individual rights." Those qualities trump concerns over a few seconds of rude behavior.
Good manners are appreciated; they aren't a requirement for a seat on the state Supreme Court.
Editorials are the consensus of the Tri-City Herald editorial board.
Editorial board members are Rufus Friday, publisher; Chris Sivula, editorial page editor; Ken Robertson, executive editor; Matt Taylor, contributing editor; Lori Lancaster, editorial writer; Shelly Norman, editorial writer and Jack Briggs, retired publisher
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