WA: no more bribes for bargains

From the Tri-Cities Herald:

Prosecutors: New WA law prevents troubling out-of-court deals

Local prosecutors are praising a new law that bans out-of-court deals for criminal defendants like ones that got a city prosecutor and contract defense attorney in trouble last year. Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the legislation that bars payments by criminal defendants to charitable causes in hopes of having charges reduced or their cases dismissed. The law takes effect July 22. "This is a very good thing," Franklin County Prosecutor Steve Lowe said...

See also Governor puts stop to dollars for deals

The Herald's reports about Kennewick's missing donations from defendants -- which were intended for the city's Home Base youth program -- resulted in federal criminal charges being filed against former city attorney Tyler Morris and former contract public defender Jeffrey Finney...