King County prosecutor Norm Maleng once remarked that justice did not always mean obtaining a criminal conviction.
It was the remark of a just man.
When Mr. Maleng died Thursday, May 24, of cardiac arrest, shock waves radiated through the city, the county and the state. Mr. Maleng was one of the most respected figures in this state's criminal justice system.
While public officials have noted Mr. Maleng's integrity, compassion and professionalism, their statements have come with more conviction and human feeling than the expected rhetoric on the death of a longtime public servant.
That fact is a tribute to Mr. Maleng both as a public servant and human being.
The public was given a glimpse into both qualities in 2003 when Mr. Maleng's office struck a deal with Green River killer Gary Ridgway. Mr. Maleng accepted full responsibility for the decision to allow Ridgeway to escape the death penalty in return for information about the locations of his victims' remains.
When Mr. Maleng spoke of hoping to mitigate the suffering of the victims' families, it was clear he spoke as no stranger to suffering. In 1989, his daughter Karen died at age 12 in a sledding accident.
While the decision was controversial, even among critics there was no lack of respect for the man and the difficult call he made.
Mr. Maleng grew up on a dairy farm in Whatcom County and graduated from the University of Washington Law School in 1966. He ascended to King County prosecutor in 1978 and went on, as a moderate Republican, to win reelection seven consecutive times.
Along the way Mr. Maleng was an architect of the state's Sentencing Reform Act in 1981, which brought increased uniformity to the sentencing process. He labored for getting tough on sex predators and domestic violence perpetrators, advocated for domestic violence victims and came out for making treatment options available for convicted drug addicts. He was tough on the violent and showed compassion for the poor.
Mr. Maleng was proud of his Norwegian background and agrarian roots and he loved the Seattle Mariners. He is considered friend and mentor to hundreds throughout the region's legal community.
Mr. Maleng exhibited all that we can ask of a public servant: decency, accountability, professionalism and an informed, tested conscience.
He has left behind a standard that should guide the King County criminal justice system well in the years ahead.
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