That's why Sen. Patty Murray's choice of Seattle defense attorney Kate Pflaumer to be U.S. Attorney for Western Washington has raised eyebrows. Pflaumer's 18-year career as a defense attorney is making some people, primarily police, uncomfortable with her appointment to be a high-ranking prosecutor.

In protest, police organizations have pointed to what they call Pflaumer's vigorous defense of accused drug dealers. She's also fought with the Everett and University of Washington police departments and defended the accused in an anti-nuclear civil-disobedience case in 1985.

But Pflaumer has the support of many in the legal community, including a group of 30 present and former U.S. attorneys and senior prosecutors who praised her "finely honed trial skills and her commitment to a fair and effective criminal justice system" in a letter to the Seattle Times.

Such a transition from defense to prosecution is, in fact, not so rare. "I think this has been a bit of a red herring here," Pflaumer explains. "I've had judges tell me they thought it was ideal for people to do several years of criminal defense before going into prosecution, because that enables them to be aware of the gravity of their decisions (as prosecutors) and their impact on people's lives."

Pflaumer would replace Mike McKay, who resigned last April after three years as U.S. Attorney here. McKay was very much a Bush-era crime control advocate, vigorously promoting Seattle's federal "Weed and Seed" program. McKay was also considered one of the nation's most enthusiastic prosecutors when it came to the "zero tolerance" asset-forfeiture policy implemented at the nation's borders.