When you discover that you've been wrong, very wrong, it's an excellent opportunity to (1) apologize, or (2) at a minimum, shut up regarding the thing you were wrong about.

Politicians and lawyers rarely take advantage of that opportunity.

Today's example: the minions of Renton, Washington. You remember Renton. Renton, though Chief Prosecutor Shawn Arthur and Police Officer Ryan Rutledge, in patent defiance of the First Amendment and good judgment, sought and obtained a search warrant to identify a satirical cartoonist on the theory that posting internet cartoons making fun of the Renton Police Department constituted "cyberstalking" under an extremely silly and overbroad law. Compliant rubberstamp Judge James Cayce obliged, issuing the warrant. Rendered a national laughingstock for comically thuggish behavior, Renton doubled down, sending City Attorney and SUPERLAWYER Larry Warren to defend the investigation. Warren issued an apologia that amounted to little more than "the First Amendment only protects what I say it protects."

Apparently there are wiser heads, and they have prevailed. Renton has withdrawn its search warrant application, and has announced that it will conduct an internal investigation in the Renton Police Department based on its belief that the cartoonist is an employee.

The City of Renton's justification — echoed by City Attorney Larry Warren — is odd:

There has been no relevant information that we have uncovered to date on the Cyberstalking case to further a criminal investigation. As a result we have decided to forego any further action on the search warrant.

Warren echoed this:

But city attorney Larry Warren, sitting next to Covington in a City Hall conference room, reaffirmed his belief that a crime did occur – cyberstalking; investigators just weren't able to gather the evidence to prove it.

But here's the thing: the question put before the court was not whether any more evidence of "cyberstalking" had been gathered, or could be. Rather, attorney Harish Bharti's motion to quash the warrant raised the question of whether the warrant application stated sufficient facts to establish probable cause that a crime had been committed in the first place. When the police arrest someone, or search something, the relevant question isn't whether they can, post hoc, gather evidence to show that there was probable cause. The question is whether the search or arrest was supported by probable cause at the time. Saying "well, we asked for a search warrant and got it, but we haven't found new evidence since, so we're not going to try to defend the warrant" is a non-sequitur. In addition, it's an about-face. Renton's minions previously claimed that the internet cartoons were self-evidently illegal cyberstalking. So what more evidence did they need to gather to support that proposition — unless the proposition was nonsense from the onset?

SUPERLAWYER Larry Warren isn't going quietly:

But city attorney Larry Warren, sitting next to Covington in a City Hall conference room, reaffirmed his belief that a crime did occur – cyberstalking; investigators just weren't able to gather the evidence to prove it.

You let us know how that works out for you, Larry. By the way: I posted this, and my last post, with the specific intent to embarrass and humiliate you, and hoped that you, and people in your community, would read it. I did that because I think your conduct marks you as a lawless loathsome censorious thug. Tell me, Larry: do you think I am guilty of cyberstalking under Washington law? Will you seek a warrant for me?

Renton's press release concludes:

Let me also assure you that this does not have anything to do with violating first amendment rights. We are committed to protecting free speech and the rights of any individual to express their opinions.

Ah, yes, the toddler school of First Amendment argument: accusing people of crimes for publishing satirical cartoons about public officials isn't about the First Amendment because, well, because it just isn't.

Remember: this is what local government is like. Vote and act accordingly.

Last 5 posts by Ken White