Ignorance of the law is no excuse. But not knowing this law is endangering the public | Opinion

Richard Badalamente
·3 min read
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Most people have heard the expression, ignorantia juris non excusat, although perhaps not in Latin. Broadly translated it means, “ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

But there’s another expression from Roman law, ignorant lures nocet, which means, “not knowing the law is harmful.” In the case of Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws, that’s a better fit.

There’s been a failure to effectively implement the Extreme Risk Protection Order law, especially in Benton and Franklin counties.

There were almost 10,000 serious crimes in Kennewick between 2017 and 2022; many involving domestic violence. But only three ERPOs were filed during those five years. Unfortunately, public knowledge of ERPOs and how to seek them is lacking.

Another problem is that up to May 2023, the state Basic Law Enforcement Academy — “Washington’s mandated training academy for all city and county entry-level peace officers in the state” — was providing no training on ERPOs or how best to enforce them.

The ERPO law has been in effect in Washington for over five years, and to say it has been used only sparingly is an understatement.

The biggest impediment to the law’s employment is the public’s ignorance of its existence. The League of Women Voters of Benton and Franklin counties is working to change that.

The critical importance of raising the public’s awareness of so-called “Red Flag” laws was brought home once again just recently, when a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy was shot to death by a man whose family said he struggled with mental health issues, including schizophrenia and wouldn’t take his medication.

Law enforcement arrested the man and confiscated several weapons from his home.

This case is eerily similar to the 2021 case of Ryan Kaufman here in Kennewick, reexamined in a February 2023 Tri-City Herald story by Cameron Probert.

Like Washington, California has a “Red Flag” law, the court-issued Gun Violence Restraining Order. This temporarily suspends a person’s access to firearms when they are found to pose a significant risk to themselves or others by having access to firearms, even if they obtained them legally, as the suspect in the deputy’s murder is said to have done.

Only if the suspect had been evaluated by a competent behavioral health authority and certain conditions were documented, and if this was reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, might a gun dealer have refused to sell a firearm to the suspect.

It should come as no surprise that people are reluctant to have family members, especially children dear to them, involuntarily committed for mental evaluation, let alone hospitalization.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness says almost 58 million U.S. adults live with some form of mental illness. Of these, more than 14 million suffer from a severe mental illness. Even so, the large majority of people with mental disorders do not engage in violence against others.

Suicide is another matter. Psychiatric disorders, such as depression, are strongly implicated in suicide, which accounts for 76% of gun fatalities in Washington. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among veterans under age 45.

When people die by suicide, the majority do so with a firearm. As a vet myself, I’m especially saddened that we aren’t doing more to help vets, and while we’re at it, temporarily remove the instrument of their destruction — the gun.

Why not utilize the law that was designed to do this, the ERPO law?

Learn more about Extreme Risk Protection Orders:

Remember, ignorant lures nocet, not knowing the law is harmful.

Richard Badalmente is a Kennewick writer with Sustainable Tri-Cities.