I found the Auburn Reporter article of whether Ferguson, Mo., could happen locally interesting; a few even suggesting it is already happening here.

Ferguson is not one event but the culmination of repeated individual events. It is discriminatory behavior, whether under a mantle of authority or shroud of secrecy, which creates the dynamics for which a “Ferguson” event can occur. For a person of color, white society sometimes just acts and feels differently.

For example, when I decided to run for King County District Court judge, I wanted to become the first Latino ever to be appointed or elected to the court. When a Caucasian state legislator texted me that unnamed Auburn attorneys were circulating a document accusing me of domestic violence, the implication was obvious. As he wouldn’t name names, and as less than 1 percent of Auburn attorneys are Latino, I could have felt personally and professionally isolated.

Thank goodness, I know the majority of local attorneys and thus realized the legislator was trying to create an atmosphere of fear, such as occurred in the Deep South during the ’60s.

That fear becomes real for a minority when told that a group – consisting most probably of Caucasians – is willing to do and say anything to put a usurper in his or her place. Had I not known my peers so well, that fear could have then become irrational.

Auburn attorneys are excellent and many have mentored me over the years, and while some local attorneys no doubt opposed me, that is not the point. The point is that my self-styled adversary failed in evoking fear, obviously underestimating my experience with past prejudices. It is the creation of fear and isolation and how a minority internalizes it where a “Ferguson” event begins to crystalize. The residents of Ferguson finally overcame their fear of a militarized police to rise up and voice their grievances.

While the recent forum chaired by King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and King County Sheriff John Urquhart highlighted the sheriff’s office initiatives, more needs to be said and done.

For example, Mr. Satterberg’s office, without fanfare, has made policy changes which positively impact the judicial system and the public at large, while coincidentally benefitting minorities who were disparately impacted under the old policy even more.

Specifically, his office has declined to pursue criminal charges against drivers who couldn’t pay certain civil traffic violations. That is beneficial to the judicial system because incarcerating these drivers was a cost to the system without a clear benefit. What more can be done?

I saw no mention of judicial participation at the forum. But even if there were, it would not have included, obviously, a Latino from the district court, as there remain none to my knowledge.

The courts should be a reflection of society as much as the sheriff’s department or prosecutor’s office, and that particular exclusion is glaring, even while I acknowledge the exceptional judges who are on the bench. Our state Supreme Court, always dynamic in its judicial makeup, presently has two Latinos out of the nine justices.

I emphatically urge the district court to break the barrier that burdens it. That is the “more” which can be done.

John M Torres Jr., is an attorney and an international educator on justice and judicial systems.