Poor treatment not appreciated
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Editor,
I was struck by an uninsured motorist in August 2012. He was cited for no insurance and following too closely. My right arm was injured, requiring several surgeries. In July 2013 a District Court Order was issued using the wording “Upon review of the plea agreement entered into by the parties ....” The Court Order approved dismissal of the following too closely offense. I was never contacted about the prosecutor entering into a plea agreement with the defendant. On Nov. 9, 2012 County Attorney Mitch Young’s office sent a letter to me stating the driver had been “found guilty” and that a “sentencing/restitution hearing” was scheduled for Dec. 13, 2012. The letter never got to me because it was misaddressed, an error by the County Attorney’s office. Upon recent inquiry of the County Attorney’s office about why I was never contacted about the hearing and asking for documents from the case file, I was treated like some kind of low life through a glass wall requiring me to speak into a microphone to state my business. I felt degraded by the same government office my taxes pay for. And the attorneys earn well above mediocre wages which exist in this area. These “homeland security walls” appearing in City and County offices foster an attitude of separateness and degradation of the citizens by government employees. There is definitely no attitude of service except at the Clerk of Court’s office. Are my civil rights violated when official documents are sent to the wrong address and the uninsured driver is not required to pay restitution for my medical bills? I think so, but Mitch Young and his staff could care less.
Laura Hooper
Polson
