A small group of Washington inmates in state prisons are being left out of the latest in a multi-year wave of reforms easing tough-on-crime “three strikes” laws around the U.S.
At least 24 states including Washington passed such laws during the 1990s, embracing tough-on-crime rhetoric. But nearly half have since scaled them back amid concern that habitual but less-violent offenders were being stuck behind bars for life with hardcore felons.
Washington’s 1993 three-strikes law was among the first and stands out as among the nation’s strictest. But lawmakers targeted it for reform this year with legislation removing second-degree robbery – generally defined as a robbery without a deadly weapon or significant injury – from the list of crimes qualifying for cumulative life sentences. But while the original reform included a retroactive clause, making inmates sentenced under the old law eligible for resentencing, an amendment pushed by a prosecutors’ group cut out retroactivity.
Washington governor and Democratic presidential contender Jay Inslee signed the changes into law last month. That means about 62 inmates convicted of second-degree robbery will be left serving life sentences, even after judges stop “striking out” new offenders convicted of the same crimes. About half are black, despite African Americans making up only 4 percent of Washington’s population.
Under the original bill, the inmates with a robbery “strike” would have had the opportunity to have their life sentences re-examined by judges – but now they won’t.
Supporters of the amendment have said even less-serious robberies can leave emotional scars, and that prosecutors might have set aside more serious charges because they knew second-degree robbery convictions would mean life in prison for those offenders. (AP)
