Profile: Norm Maleng
By Dan Satterberg
"I was raised on a small dairy farm near the community of Acme in Whatcom County," begins today's guest speaker, King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng.
The audience utters familiar groans and chuckles. This introduction has, in some ways, become an unintentional shtick; they have heard it often over the years, but those who know Maleng best know that the farm boy part of his resumŽ may be the most important.
Although he hasn't lived on the dairy farm for the better part of four decades, the values ingrained from a childhood that revolved around family, work, church, school and the Future Farmers of America are still visible in the big city prosecutor who makes life-and-death decisions and leads an office of more than 270 lawyers.
Maleng left Acme in 1956 to enter the University of Washington, where he majored in economics. A stint in the Army kept him away from his prize heifer, Lassie May. Then the U.W. Law School beckoned in 1963; then the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee; then Preston Thorgrimson; then . . . , well, there was always something keeping the future farmer from his cows.
But Maleng still keeps farm-boy hours, often arriving at his fourth-floor courthouse office by 7 a.m. to start a busy schedule of meetings and commitments. Maleng's office not only handles 10,000 adult felony prosecutions a year, it represents the many facets of King County government. All roads lead through the Prosecutor's Office in King County and Maleng has had his fingerprints on most of the major initiatives of county government and criminal justice reform over the last 27 years.
Norm the Reformer
Norm Maleng became the King County prosecuting attorney in 1979 after serving as chief civil deputy under Christopher T. Bayley. He tried the cases that paved the way for the construction of the Kingdome, but was just as well known for his commitment to restoring the professionalism of the office.
"Norm came to office at a time when integrity was a top issue," recalled Dave Boerner, Seattle University law professor and former chief criminal deputy under Bayley and Maleng. "Norm was determined to keep the office out of politics and politics out of the office."
The list of policy initiatives pushed over Maleng's tenure is long and varied. Some are meat-and-potatoes criminal justice issues, but others show his interest in social justice and keeping kids invested in school.
Maleng was the force behind passage of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981, which created our state's determinate sentencing scheme. He chaired the 1990 Governor's Community Protection Task Force, which overhauled the state's approach to sex offenders. He helped rewrite the juvenile sentencing laws and respond to the wave of senseless youth violence the state endured in the mid-'90s.
But locking up kids was never Maleng's idea of a better community; education is. "If we build better students today," Maleng is fond of saying, "we'll need to build fewer prison cells tomorrow."
He reinvigorated our state's approach to troubled children and truancy by pushing the so-called "Becca bill," named after a 13-year-old runaway who was killed by a sex offender in Spokane.
His partner in many of these efforts is Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge.
"Norm's commitment to youth and to the improvement of the multiple systems which impact children and families is simply incomparable," Justice Bridge said. "His incredible level of energy keeps us all going. He's never pessimistic. He's always reaching for that better way, and he finds it."
Drugs, Cars and DNA
Maleng led the charge in Olympia in 2003 to reduce sentences for drug offenders, capture the money that was programmed to build and operate new prisons and distribute those funds to counties to be used in providing drug treatment through drug courts.
It was a classic Nixon-goes-to-China moment, where the Republican prosecutor with a reputation for toughness asked legislators to take a chance, reduce sentences for drug crimes and build a reliable source of funding for drug treatment. As a result, King County Drug Court has enough money to offer intensive drug treatment programs for hundreds of addicts who could never afford it on their own.
But Maleng is not one to rest on past accomplishments. He is a man of constant motion, keeping his deputies hopping to stay abreast of a multitude of reforms, projects and commitments. His most recent initiative has been to change the way his office tackles auto theft, the fastest growing category of crime.
"For too long we have treated car theft as the least serious crime on the books," said Maleng, "when, for most people, their car is more than just a possession, it is a life line. Having your car stolen can be a major life disruption and even a traumatic event."
Maleng is also excited about the new Cold Case Unit in his office, which is charged to review the 450 unsolved homicides throughout King County, using the latest in forensic technology. "Advancements in DNA have given us both the ability and the moral obligation to try and solve unsolved cases," Maleng said. "The pursuit of justice is a concept that never gets old."
Norm the Mentor
Beyond legal reforms, Maleng's greatest legacy might be his impact upon the careers of scores of prominent judges and lawyers throughout the state who started out as deputy prosecutors in Maleng's office.
"Norm is the most generous mentor I've ever seen," said U.S. District Court Chief Judge Robert Lasnik, who was Maleng's chief of staff through most of the 1980s. "He's the antithesis of the traditional politician who is quick to grab credit and quicker to assess blame. Norm delegates a great deal of responsibility to his staff and takes delight in seeing them succeed."
Maleng recently told a group of supporters that, like life itself, being prosecutor was a journey, not a destination. "On the journey of justice," Maleng said, "you must continue to grow, to change and to learn. I used to think that by knowing the law that you would automatically find justice, and sometimes you can," he continued, "but seeing justice is not purely an intellectual exercise; you must also learn to use your heart."
Maleng's decision in the Gary Ridgway case, to seek the truth about the killings in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table, ranks as among his most difficult, but one that came to represent his evolving view of justice.
"Justice in the Ridgway case was about finding the truth," he said. "It wasn't about Ridgway; he didn't deserve mercy and he didn't deserve to live. This case became about what the families of the victims deserved and about revealing the truth to the entire community that was affected by these crimes."
"In Baseball, Hope Springs Eternal"
In the few hours a week that he is not in the office, Maleng devotes himself to his wife Judy and son Mark. He often pauses in the middle of a hectic day to draw strength from prayer and reflection on the memory and spiritual presence of his daughter Karen, who died in a tragic sledding accident in 1989 when she was just 12. He makes a point to tell each new deputy in his office that their first obligation in life is to their own family.
And then there are the Mariners. A season-ticket holder since the first game and an annual Spring Training migrant, Maleng believes that baseball can serve as a metaphor for nearly every aspect of the human condition. Most of all, baseball fits his optimistic view of life, demonstrating that "hope springs eternal." Every game, every inning, every at bat offers a chance for renewal, a chance for success, a chance for excellence.
Maleng is up to the plate again this year, running for re-election to the office he has shaped into his own image. It is a place where justice is sought, careers are launched, and where the quest for excellence never ends.
What inning is it? Is this his last at bat? Maleng won't say anything other than he believes in work and that he has never been more excited to be the prosecutor.
It looks like Lassie May will have to wait for another day for the farm boy to come home.
Dan Satterberg is the chief of staff in the King County Prosecutor's Office, where he has served for more than 20 years, including 16 as chief of staff.
