Associated Press
SEATTLE — Despite angry protesters who at times shouted at council members, the King County Council has approved a contract for the development of a new youth jail and courthouse in Seattle.
Council spokesman Al Sanders told The Seattle Times the Monday evening vote was 7-0. It was taken after several hours of comments from opponents.
Sanders says council members “took the vote while they were being shouted at.”
Voters in 2012 approved a $210 million levy to replace the county’s juvenile justice complex. Proponents say the old complex is falling apart.
Many speakers read excerpts from a book by anti-incarceration activist Angela Davis. They say children shouldn’t be jailed.