FIX WASHINGTON'S 3-STRIKES LAW
     RESEARCH    LEGISLATION    JOIN


Washington's "Persistent Offenders Accountability Act" was enacted after the passage of Initiative 593 in 1993. It is often referred to as the "3-Strikes" law. Washington was the first state in the nation to pass a 3-Strikes law.


SIGNATORIES
  • American Civil Liberties Union of Washington
  • American Friends Service Committee
  • Black Policy Foundation
  • Center for Social Justice
  • Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites
  • Church Council of Greater Seattle
  • First African Methodist Episcopal Church - Seattle
  • Friends Committee on Washington State Public Policy
  • Justice Works!
  • King County Kinship Collaboration
  • Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington State
  • Minority Executive Director's Coalition of King County
  • NAACP - Alaska, Oregon and Washington State - Area Conference
  • Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia
  • Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane
  • Religious Coalition for the Common Good
  • Seattle Fellowship of Reconciliation
  • Seattle - Martin Luther King Jr. County NAACP
  • SEIU Healthcare 775NW
  • Statewide Poverty Action Network
  • S.T.E.P.S.: Steps to Ethically Profiling Stability
  • The Birth Attendants: Prison Doula Project
  • United Black Christian Clergy Association of Washington State
  • Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
  • Washington Christian Leaders Coalition
  • Washington Defender Association
  • Washington State Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice
  • Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation

 

  

 

 

WHEREAS approximately 73% of the convictions under Washington's 3-Strikes law are for crimes in the mid to low range of Washington's criminal seriousness scale at RCW 9.94A.515 (1);

WHEREAS Robbery 2, the most common 3-Strikes conviction, and Assault 2, another common 3-Strikes crime, are classified in the least serious quarter of criminal offenses at RCW 9.94A.515, carrying standard sentences of 3 months to 7 years;

WHEREAS Washington's 3-Strikes population is approximately 40% African American in comparison with a state population that is less than 4% African American; (1)

WHEREAS Washington's Sentencing Guidelines Commission recommended in 2001 removing Robbery 2 from the 3-Strikes list and examining under what circumstances, if any, should Assault 2 be treated as a strike, as the range of behaviors associated with Robbery 2 and, "probably" some instances of Assault 2 do not rise to the level of "most serious" offenses and that, specifically, in the case of Robbery 2, these behaviors pose "little risk of physical injury"; (2)

WHEREAS each year, bills to respond to the recommendations of the Sentencing Guidelines Commission are introduced in the state legislature without success;

THEREFORE we call for reform or repeal of Washington's 3-Strikes law.

NOTES
  1. Persistent Offenders, Through June 2008, State of Washington, Sentencing Guidelines Commission.
  2. Sentencing Reform Act Review, 2000/2001, State of Washington, Sentencing Guidelines Commission.

 

The organizations listed on this page support the statement on this page. The content on other pages of the Fix Washington's 3-Strikes Law site has not been reviewed by each of these organizations and is provided for informational purposes only. Contact: info@fix3strikes.org