Pacific Legal Foundation: The government called them lawbreakers. The government should have to prove it in court.

The catch is that the county wants to impose this fine without a jury trial. The Kings demanded the department prove its claims. In Washington, however, the department is not required to prove its claims in a court with a jury. Here, merely naming the Kings’ right to a hearing an “appeal” is irrelevant. If the Ecology Department’s argument is accepted, the government would never be required to prove any claims in court or to provide defendants with a jury trial.