FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON
WASHINGTON STATE PUBLIC POLICY |
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SUPPORT
SOUND AND RATIONAL SENTENCING POLICIES One of the issues for which Friends have always had a deep concern is the question of criminal justice. FCWPP supports rational and humane approach to criminal justice, best expressed in a policy statement from the Friends Committee on National Legislation: "We urge our government to work toward a criminal justice system that is restorative, seeking to return rehabilitated offenders to society with the restoration of their full rights and obligations." There are two criminal justice issues requiring your immediate action: 1. Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative (SSOSA). People accused of sex crimes in Washington may be eligible for the Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative, or SSOSA, which provides for a small amount of jail time followed by treatment. The SSOSA, in addition to reducing recidivism rates when applied appropriately, is an important tool for both prosecutors and defenders. When sex abuse occurs within a family, often the prosecutor cannot get the family to cooperate with prosecution unless the SOSSA option is on the table. Defenders can use SSOSA to encourage plea bargaining. At the same time, there are many problems with the SSOSA, and it is urgently in need of re-evaluation and modification. Among the problems that plague SSOSA: in some cases the jail time provided may not be enough, there can be conflicts of interest involving providers who evaluate offenders for SSOSA, and because offenders are required to pay for SSOSA themselves it is generally unavailable to lower-income offenders. HB 2400, currently under consideration in the House, would effectively eliminate the SSOSA by adding stiff new sentence enhancements of up to 10 years for sex crimes, and mandating that all time must be served in total confinement. HB 2400 addresses a real problem in a highly politicized manner. It is not based on sound science or policy, will cost the state nearly $400 million over 6 years - necessitating more cuts in essential social services - and will eliminate an effective tool for the enforcement of justice. We do support reforms to the SSOSA system, but they must be meaningful reforms, based on careful study based on science and statistics. Good public policy takes time, and this bill is definitely what we Quakers would call "unseasoned." We are told this bill has good prospects for passing. Our hope, however, is that cooler heads will prevail and that HB 2400 will be modified to establish a task force that will review the successes and failures of the SSOSA and make policy recommendations to next year's legislature. Our lawmakers are under pressure to pass this bill, and they need to know they have their constituents' support as they work to make HB 2400 as effective as possible. ACTION: Please contact your legislators, identify yourself as a constituent and a Quaker, and tell them you support changes to HB 2400 that would keep offenders eligible for the SSOSA, establish an interim task force to make recommendations regarding reforms to the SOSSA, and hold off on sentence enhancements until the task force recommendations have been received. 2. THREE STRIKES. An important goal of FCWPP is to narrow and then ultimately eliminate the inflexible "Three Strikes" law, which removes judicial discretion over sentencing of certain serious offenders, and is extremely costly to taxpayers. SSB 5911 eliminates Second Degree Roberry, in which no weapon is used and no violence occurs, from Three Strikes. Existing inmates sentenced to life without parole because of a Robbery 2 conviction would be re-sentenced, saving taxpayers an estimated $650,000 for the 50 or so inmates expected to be released in 2004 and $1,300,000 for 2005. The bill, which was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, will die unless it is moved by the Senate Rules Committee to the floor and acted on by this Tuesday, Feb. 17. ACTION: Please contact members of the Senate Rules Committee, and urge them to act favorably on this bill, by calling the legislative hotline, 1-800-562-6000, or by telephoning them directly:
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