A Grand Idea? Is Kootenai County’s New Grand Jury Really A Necessary Law-Enforcement Tool?

For the first time in 20 years, Kootenai County has reinstated the use of a grand jury in certain types of criminal cases, touching off the debate represented by the two columns on this page. Grand juries are routinely used in the federal court system and in a few state jurisdictions such as Multnomah County, Ore., where Portland is situated. They are rare in Washington state where county prosecutors have authority to take cases to trial without even a preliminary hearing. In 1939, judges in Spokane County ordered a grand jury to be empaneled to look into allegations of corruption in local government. In the end, a county commissioner was indicted. It is unclear whether a grand jury has been used since then in Spokane County, but oldtimers around the courthouse can’t remember one.

MEMO: See two views under headlines: 1. The rights of victims and ordinary citizens are better balanced with those of the accused 2. With no one to protext the accused’s right, this system could steal an innocent reputation