Pierce County holds people in jails longer than constitutionally permitted before giving them a hearing to determine whether their arrest was justified, according to a federal lawsuit.
The complaint, filed on behalf of two people arrested in late 2022, said that the county didn’t commence probable-cause hearings within 48 hours of their arrest, in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. The filing, which seeks to be certified as a class-action case, claimed that delays have affected “numerous” people inside the Pierce County Jail.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1991, County of Riverside v. McLaughlin , held that it was unconstitutional — unless in the event of an emergency or extraordinary circumstance — to detain someone for more than 48 hours without a probable cause hearing if that person didn’t have a warrant.
The county combines its probable-cause hearings with 1:30 p.m. arraignments on weekdays, the lawsuit said, and doesn’t hold probable-cause hearings or determinations on weekends or court holidays. Due to that practice, the county effectively has guaranteed unconstitutional detention for anyone arrested without a warrant on Fridays and on the bulk of Saturdays, according to the suit.
“For those arrested before court holidays, this warrantless detention without probable cause can exceed five days,” the complaint said.
Adam Faber, a spokesman for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which defends the county in litigation, declined a request to respond to the allegations.
“Pierce County generally does not comment on pending litigation,” Faber said in an email.
In Washington, a statewide court rule requires a probable cause hearing or determination within 48 hours of a person’s arrest , unless probable cause had already been established. The rule notes that weekends and holidays may be considered judicial days — meaning days that the court is open.
Ezra Ritchin, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said that many Washington jurisdictions have probable-cause determinations on the weekend, as far as he was aware, and Pierce County simply is choosing not to do the same. He also noted that the Supreme Court decision explicitly did not consider “intervening weekends” to be an excuse for exceeding the 48-hour window.
The effort to offer probable-cause determinations on weekends didn’t have to be intensive, according to attorney Akeeb Dami Animashaun, who’s also representing the plaintiffs. He said there were magistrate judges on call during the weekends in some places who, even if on the golf course, will take a call to hear an affidavit and make a decision.
“It’s not an onerous requirement,” Animashaun said in an interview Tuesday.
The lawsuit, filed April 25 in U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, described the circumstances faced by the two plaintiffs in the case.
One woman was arrested Friday night, Dec. 30, 2022. Due to the weekend and New Year’s Day holiday on Monday, she was in jail for more than 86 hours before getting a probable-cause hearing and ordered released on $5,000 bail, the suit said. Arrested a few hours before her, a man spent more than 93 hours in detention prior to getting a hearing and he was released on his own recognizance.
The woman ultimately was given a suspended year-long jail sentence and ordered to pay $500 in victim compensation after pleading guilty to fourth-degree assault involving domestic violence, court records show. The man pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and was ordered to serve three months in jail.
“If you take a step back, what you have here is a very clear and simple rule of constitutional law,” Animashaun said, adding that to not follow it was “really an absurdity.”
The suit seeks unspecified damages for the plaintiffs and proposed class members, legal fees and other relief as deemed appropriate by the court.
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