Both recent articles concerning the statement of charges in support of the recall of Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer are informative and accurate, but incomplete. The articles omit the underlying basis for the attempt to recall Mr. Meyer. At the end of the day, the petitioner, Mr. Kyle Wheeler, is a vehement, woke progressive who cannot stand that Mr. Meyer exercises his discretion for the good of the community as a whole. He cannot stand that Mr. Meyer is fair and honest and cannot be bought with the promise of support from any group.
Mr. Wheeler’s real complaint is that Mr. Meyer does not shower the LGBTQ crowd with special treatment. In Mr. Wheeler’s opinion, if Mr. Meyer does not show special care to the LGBTQ activists, Mr. Meyer is biased, sexist and hateful.
Over more than the last 10 years, I have worked both for and against Mr. Meyer. Sometimes he has won, sometimes I have won. We do not always see eye-to-eye. When I worked for him, Mr. Meyer instructed me to file charges against anyone who could be shown to have broken the law, completely without regard to that person’s name, status, skin color or sexual orientation. If there was ever an inkling or even remote appearance that he could not be fair in a matter, Mr. Meyer would immediately recuse himself and appoint an impartial attorney to make the charging decision — he would not even allow his deputy prosecutors to discuss the matter in his presence.
As a defense attorney working against him, I have attempted to regale Mr. Meyer with the good status and good deeds of my clients only and always to be met with the same basic response: “The only thing I care about is whether your client committed the act, not who he is or what other things he has done.”
At its core, this attempt to recall Mr. Meyer is an attack on all conservatives and conservative values. Mr. Wheeler’s basic complaint is that Mr. Meyer does not care if someone is being radically expressive about sexuality, race or other perceived status; Mr. Meyer will treat that radical the same way he treats everyone else, no better and no worse. This recall attempt is an attempt to undermine the fundamental American understanding that all men are equal under the law.
Kevin Nelson
Centralia
