REFORMING WASHINGTON’S 3-STRIKES LAW

1. REFORMING WASHINGTON’S 3-STRIKES LAW

2. Initiative 593 First 3-Strikes law in the nation, 1993 Sparked similar laws in approximately half the states and federally

3. Commit three “most serious” crimes. Receive a sentence of 777 years 77 months 77 days & “NO POSSIBILITY OF RELEASE”

4. NO DISCRETION If a defendant is convicted of 3 of the crimes on the list, the judge must sentence him or her to LIFE WITHOUT POSSIBILITY OF RELEASE. The jury may not know that this is the sentence that will be imposed.

5. How was 3-Strikes sold to the public? It would permanently remove “the most violent” from the streets -- those who committed the “most serious” crimes. The case of a young Washington woman, Diane Ballasiotes, who was murdered by a convicted rapist who had been released from prison in Washington State, was used to explain the purpose of the initiative. Most people voted for 3-Strikes to stop “the monstrous predators”. Three Strikes in Review, R. David LaCourse, Washington Policy Center, 1997.

6. BUT… “there is another category of criminal that was targeted -- the chronic street thug…” Three Strikes in Review, R. David LaCourse, Washington Policy Center, 1997.

7. WAY WAY DOWN ON THE BALLOT INITIATIVE - NEVER ADVERTISED, UNDEFINED ….

8. “MOST SERIOUS” VIOLENT” INCLUDES CRIMES IN THE LOWEST QUARTILE OF SERIOUSNESS ROBBERY 2 & ASSAULT 2, Graph to left, scale of criminal seriousness at RCW 9.94A.515

9. WORST OF THE WORST? About 1/3rd of Washington 3-Strikers: More than 100 out of 300 Have never been convicted of a serious violent offense as defined under state law. NO MURDERS, NO RAPES, NO MOLESTATIONS, NO ASSAULT 1, NO KIDNAPPING -- NO “HEINOUS” CRIMES ROBBERY 1 BURGLARY 1 ROB 2, ASSAULT 2 Scale of criminal seriousness at RCW 9.94A.515

10. ROBBERY 2 & ASSAULT 2COMMON 3-STRIKES CRIMES ROBBERY 2 …an unarmed crime in the lowest quartile of criminal seriousness under state law… IS THE MOST COMMON 3-STRIKES CONVICTION

11. STANDARD SENTENCES FOR ROBBERY 2 AND ASSAULT 2 3 MONTHS TO 7 YEARS (RCW 9.94A.510)

12. “THE NUMBERS” OF 300 3-STRIKERS: • More than 1/3 (120) have never been convicted of a “serious violent offense” (Defined at RCW 9.94A.030) • 1/10 (30) have never been convicted of a crime above the lowest quartile of seriousness under state law. • OF 942 CONVICTIONS: • 3/4 are for crimes in the low to mid range of the seriousness scale (314 sentences with 3 convictions each Approximately 689 of those convictions are at level IX and below.) ROBBERY 1 BURGLARY 1 ASSAULT 2 & ROBBERY 2

13. LACOURSE’S “THUGS” • Almost always low income • Most from childhoods of trauma or neglect • Most struggling with addiction at the time of their crimes • Disproportionately African American (3-Strikes population is 40% Black, compared with a state-wide 3.5% Black population.) • Practical and social barriers to work, education, and civic engagement due to prior arrests and experience in the criminal justice system. • Represented by public defenders who are overworked and, often, underpaid. • “Processed” in overburdened criminal justice system. • Commit fewer crimes when provided treatment and help. • Crimes substantially decrease as they get older.

14. Washington Supreme Court Justice Richard B. Sanders, Testimony on Senate Bill 6120 (2001) “It is also interesting to note that of the nearly 200 individuals currently incarcerated under the three strikes law, most of them are there because of convictions for these relatively minor offenses, not for the truly "violent" crimes, which some might perceive three strikes was designed to target. This is the case because those that commit truly violent crimes are already subject to long prison terms, meaning by the time that they are released from their second lengthy term, their chance for a third repetition is relatively slight, if for no other reason than old age or death in prison.”

15. WASHINGTON SENTENCING GUIDELINES COMMISSION: 2001 RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE LEGISLATURE Remove Robbery 2 from Persistent Offenders List Examine under what circumstances, if any, should Assault 2 be treated as a strike under the persistent offender statute. Sentencing Reform Act Review, 2000/2001, State of Washington, Sentencing Guidelines Commission.

16. SEATTLE TIMES EDITORIAL “Legislators should buck up and support a bill that would remove second-degree robbery from the list of "strikes" under the "three strikes, you're out" law. Lifetime imprisonment is not proportional to the crime. It is not necessary for the protection of the public. It is not justice.” FEBRUARY 9, 2009

17. BUT DOES IT WORK? Voters didn’t get what they asked for and experts agree it’s disproportionate. But does 3-Strikes keep us safer?

18. Chase Riveland, former Secretary of Washington Department of Corrections “Our three-strikes law passed by about 70 percent, so it is very popular. But it’s a placebo that somehow makes citizens think they are safer when they are not, and it keeps them from dealing with the issues of crime and violence in responsible ways.”

19. HIGH COSTS • LOW EFFECTIVENESS • UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES • ------------------------- Research shows that 3-Strikes laws have high social and fiscal costs and uncertain crime reduction impacts and are associated with higher rates of violent crime, and additional risks to law enforcement. 1. Impacts of Three Strikes and You’re Out on Crime Trends in California and Throughout the United States , Elsa Y. Chen, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 2008. • 2. Moody, Carlisle E., Thomas B. Marvell, Robert J. Kaminski. "Unintended Consequences: Three-Strikes Laws and the Murders of Police Officers", National Institute of Justice, 01/11/2002.

20. MORE CRIME REDUCTION IN STATES WITH NO 3-STRIKES FROM 1993-2002 EXCLUDING CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK An examination of the impact of 3-Strike laws 10 years after their enactment, Policy Brief, Justice Policy Institute, 2005

21. MORE CRIME REDUCTION IN STATES WITH NO 3-STRIKES FROM 1993-2002 CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK An examination of the impact of 3-Strike laws 10 years after their enactment,Policy Brief, Justice Policy Institute, 2005

22. WHY DOESN’T 3-STRIKES WORK?

23. VIOLENT CRIME WAS DECLINING The 3-Strikes campaign fueled public perception that violent crime was on the rise in Washington. But our violent crime rate had fallen that year and it has continued that overall trend for more than a decade.

24. WASHINGTON’S INCARCERATION RATE HAS TRIPLED“The use of prison in Washington was quite stable from 1930 to 1980. On any given day during this 50-year period, roughly two persons were incarcerated in a state prison out of every 1,000 people in Washington between the ages of 18 and 49.2... Today, Washington's prison incarceration rate stands at about 6 adults incarcerated per 1,000 -- nearly three times the rate 30 years ago. Assuming no changes to existing laws or additional laws, the CFC currently sees incarceration rates growing roughly another 10 percent by 2019.”Options to Stabilize Prison Populations in Washington, WA State Institute for Public Policy, 2006.

25. 1 in 30 Washington adults is under correctional control. That’s slightly higher than the national rate of 1 in 31. 1 in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections, Pew Center for the States, 3/09

26. Washington State statistics, year-end, 2007 From 1 in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections, Pew Center for the States, 3/09 1.) Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Surveys (U.S. Department of Justice); 2.) U.S. Census, State Population Estimates; 3.) Administrative Office of U.S. Court 4.) Bureau of Prisons (U.S. Department of Justice); 5.) Pew, Original Data; 6.) National Association of State Budget Officers, State Expenditure Reports

27. INCREASING COSTS = DECREASING RETURNS Chart from June, 2008 presentation by Washington State Institute for Public Policy to the Sentencing Guidelines Commission, shows that the overall crime rate has been falling in WA since the late 80s.

28. AFTER A CERTAIN POINT, INCREASE IN PRISON POPULATION PRODUCES AN INCREASE IN CRIME In 2007, crime rates fell and, although the incarceration rate continued to increase, the growth of that increase slowed. “AREAS WITH LOWER INCARCERATION RATES EXPERIENCED GREATER CRIME REDUCTIONS.” The region with the highest incarceration rate was the only part of the country where violent crime rose. Justice Policy Institute press release based on FBI Uniform Crime Report, 9/15/08 "Using state-level prison and reported crime data from 1972 through 2000, Liedka et al. found that, surprisingly, the effect of prison growth on crime diminishes as the scale of imprisonment increases. In fact, they determined that when the incarceration rate reaches a certain point (the inflection point), a further increase in prison population actually produces an increase in crime. They placed this inflection point at 3.25 prisoners per 1,000 persons in the general population.” From: Do higher incarceration rates mean lower crime rates? Snyder, Howard N. and Jeanne B. Stinchcomb, Corrections Today, 10/06, 92-97. Discussion of: Liedka, R.A., Piehl and B. Useem. 2006. The crime-control effect of incarceration: Does scale matter? Criminology and Public Policy, 5(2):245-276.

29. WHY DO SENTENCES THAT ARE TOO HARSH RESULT IN MORE CRIME?

30. IMPACTS ON CHILDREN Children of parents who have been incarcerated are found to be approximately 6 times more likely to later become criminally involved.Council on Crime and Justice, “Children of Incarcerated Parents,” 1/2006, citing Bilchik, Seymour, & Kreisher, 2001, p. 109.” More than 96,000 Washington children have a parent in prison or under community supervision. December, 2007 letter from Ronald Ein, Coordinator Transition Reentry and Reform Coalition to Governor Gregoire. That’s about 6% of children in the state US Census Quick Facts, 2007

31. Schawn Cruze and his brother Jason spent 3 years in physically abusive foster care at the Kiwanis home in Centralia when their mother was incarcerated. Within 8 years of foster care, Mr. Cruze was sentenced to “Life Without Hope of Parole” under 3-Strikes for an Assault 2 involving Jason. He says, at times, prison seems like a Kiwanis foster home reunion. Mr. Cruze and his family -- as well as family friend Sandra Gadberry, pictured to the left, are working with Justice Works! on the 3-Strikes reform campaign.

32. IMPACTS ON DECISION-MAKING DURING THE COMMISSION OF CRIMES Imposing the same sentence for wallet grabs, unarmed robberies, and burglaries as for Aggravated Murder I…. Stands deterrence on its head Research indicates significantly higher homicide rates in cities where 3-Strikes laws are in effect. 3-Strikes…. incentivizing desperation….

33. DIVERSION OF RESOURCES FROM EFFECTIVE CRIME-FIGHTING “Statistics have long shown that crime is an occupation of the young, so imprisoning offenders beyond the age at which they would have likely given up their criminal ways brings little benefit—but big expense. “The graying of the nation’s prisons suggests that policy makers have not paid much heed to this well- established criminological fact. Rather, many have embraced longer sentences through broadly defined three strikes statutes and parole policies that are hiking up the average age of inmates—and the costs to states of treating their more serious medical conditions.” PEW CENTER FOR THE STATES: 1 IN 31 (2009)

34. FOR EXAMPLE, EDUCATION….

35. UNDERINVESTING IN GRADE SCHOOL EDUCATION Washington State ranks in the bottom quarter nationally for funding public schools, per pupil. In 2004-5, the last year for which data are available, we spent more than $1,000 less per pupil than the national average. National Center for Education Statistics.

36. UNDERINVESTING IN EDUCATION FOR INMATES A substantial body of research establishes that education for inmates is among the most cost effective ways to reduce recidivism. In 1995 House Bill 2010 prohibited state money from being spent on college-level courses for inmates – and also scaled back vocational and professional instruction. Chappell, Cathryn A. 2004. Post-Secondary Correctional Education and Recidivism: A Meta-Analysis of Research Conducted 1990-1999. Journal of Correctional Education 55(2): 148-69

37. UNDERINVESTING IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN 2007 IN WASHINGTON WE SPENT 55 CENTS ON INCARCERATION FOR EVERY DOLLAR SPENT ON HIGHER EDUCATION. (Pew Center for the States) THAT’S IN OPERATIONAL COSTS ONLY ($832 MILLION) CAPITAL COSTS (New prisons) ARE IN THE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS

38. UNDERINVESTING IN TREATMENT “Most researchers who study correctional interventions have concluded… The evidence also indicates that … treatment is more effective in reducing recidivism than punishment …” Improving the Effectiveness of Community Correctional Programs Through Research, Slide 25 of 44, presented by: Edward J. Latessa, Ph.D., Center for Criminal Justice Research, University of Cincinnati, available at http://www.sgc.wa.gov.

39. REFORM: WHERE ARE WE?

40. PATTERNS OF PROSECUTION HAVE CHANGED 1994-2000 3-Strikes sentences were imposed FORTY SEVEN (47) times when Robbery 2 was the third conviction. 2001-2007 3-Strikes sentences were imposed FIVE (5) times when Robbery 2 was the third conviction.

41. PROSECUTORS RECOGNIZE INEQUITY Nowadays we feel like we'll defend the individual cases and I think the facts are important on the individual cases. But what you're saying is exactly right. It's why we felt like there is an obligation for us to go look at those earlier cases because maybe we weren't applying the law in a rational manner. " (Tom McBride testifying against SB 5292 for Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.) Over time, however, Satterberg says, his office came to realize it still had discretion over how to charge defendants. Not every crime eligible to be counted as a strike has to be filed that way. That's particularly true for second-degree robbery. It's the lowest-level crime to be labeled a strike and yet the one that puts the most people away under three strikes, according to statistics from the state Sentencing Guidelines Commission. Prosecutor Admits Possible Injustice in the "Three-Strikes" Law. Will anyone follow? By Nina Shapiro, 1/22/08, Seattle Weekly

42. LEGISLATORS KNOW REHABILITATION IS EFFECTIVE In 2006, Washington Institute for Public Policy estimated that, with, more effective rehabilitative and re-entry methods, the state can hold down both incarceration and crime rates, saving about $2 billion over the next 20 years. In response in 2007, the legislature passed Senate Bill 6157, which allocated $25 million to investments helping incarcerated people successfully re-enter society in order to reduce recidivism. Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates, Steve Aos, Marna Miller, Elizabeth Drake, October, 2006.

43. 3-STRIKES BILLS: 2009-10 Senate Bill 5292: Remove Robbery 2 2007-08 Senate Bill 5349: Remove Robbery 2 2007-08 SB 5964: Remove Robbery 2 2005-06 House Bill 1803: Remove Robbery 2 Senate Bill 5284: Remove Robbery 2 Senate Bill 5760: Persistent offenders with no Class A Felonies can be considered for release after 15 years. 2003-04 House Bill 1881: Remove Robbery 2 and certain elements of Assault 2 2003-04 Senate Bill 5911: Remove Robbery 2 SB 6120: Remove Robbery 2 and Assault 2 2001-02 House Bill 1957: Reduce sentence to a minimum of 25 years for persistent offender - can be increased by judge 1999-00 HB 1860: Remove Robbery 2

44. PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS REFLECT THE EVIDENCE Sentencing policies should be based on the principle of proportionality, The punishment imposed should be commensurate with the seriousness of the crime and the harm done; …Have as a major purpose restorative justice - - righting the harm done to the victim and the community…. SENTENCING POLICY WASHINGTON CORRECTIONAL ASSOCIATION

45. VOICES OF CONSCIENCE SUPPORT REFORM • American Civil Liberties Union of Washington State • 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 WA State - Area Conference • Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane • Religious Coalition for the Common Good • Seattle Fellowship of Reconciliation • Seattle King County NAACP • SEIU Healthcare 775NW • Statewide Poverty Action Network • The Birth Attendants: Prison Doula Project • United Black Christian Clergy Association of WA State • Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers • Washington Defender Association • Washington State Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice • Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation

47. "There is not likely to be any change in the 3-Strikes Law until there is a public outcry.”Quote attributed to Washington State Representative Al O’Brien by3-Striker Stevan Dozier