I don't know if you read the headline news on 4/29/09 in the Longview Daily News; it was concerning over zealous prosecutors and 79% of every offense being charged as a felony. If you look further into the judiciary and visit the State Archives in Olympia Washington, you'll find where the original Oath's of Office are stored, per the Washington State Constitution. When you read these oaths, you'll discover several of them which are not notarized (running for re-election then would be fraud), dates on these legal documents have been changed without a witness, and the oath of office taken does not match the Constitution of the United States. Judges in Cowlitz county have criminal complaints against them with no follow up from prosecutors; they are hearing cases out of venue and are out of control. Local defense attorneys know this but are barred by their oath to the WSBA to do anything, not to mention they stand a chance of never practicing law again. Lives are being ruined daily, tax payer money spent on cases being sent to trial with the outcome in favor of the defendant (as the charge was excessive and erroneous to begin with). This is IF it goes to trial and not pleaded first, as there is a standing warning of those who seek their right to a trial by jury will face a worse outcome for doing so (vindictive prosecution). Some defense attorneys joke to their clients on how prison life is better than jail life, as the client wrings their hands worried about their fate. Judges and defense attorneys own property and/or are otherwise in business together. The citizens of Cowlitz county are being fleeced, their liberty, money and property stolen. It wouldn't surprise me if they seek federal monies claiming the high felony rate is indicitive of a poor county which some crisis exists.