In Washington, a persistent offender must be sentenced to life in prison without parole when the person is convicted of a most serious offense on three separate occasions, or when the person is convicted of certain sex offenses on at least two separate occasions. These offenses are generally referred to as three-strike or two-strike offenses.
In 2019, the Legislature passed ESSB 5288 which removed robbery in the second degree from the definition of a most serious offense, thereby removing the offense as a three-strike offense. A person commits robbery in the second degree when the person unlawfully takes personal property from another by the use, or threatened use, of force in circumstances not amounting to robbery in the first degree. A person is guilty of robbery in the first degree when the person is armed with a deadly weapon or what appears to be a deadly weapon, the person inflicts bodily injury, or when the person commits robbery against a financial institution. Robbery in the second degree is a class B felony.
At the time of passage of ESSB 5288, there were 64 offenders serving life without parole as a result of a conviction for robbery in the second degree.
Any offender sentenced prior to July 28, 2019, as a persistent offender when one of the offenses resulting in life without parole was robbery in the second degree shall be entitled to a resentencing hearing. The prosecuting attorney for the county in which any offender was sentenced as a persistent offender must review each sentencing document. At resentencing, the court must sentence the offender as if robbery in the second degree was not a most serious offense at the time the original sentence was imposed.
PRO: The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys supports this bill. The Legislature has the power and duty to reform the sentencing scheme when it no longer serves the interest of justice. For offenses that lead to LWOP, robbery 2 is the most common, lowest impact, and racially disproportionate in that list. Sixty-four people are still serving life in prison even though the law has been changed.
This bill takes the measured approach and gives judges the discretion to fashion appropriate sentences. This is fiscally responsible and racially just. Prosecutors will be able to advise the court of any circumstances that justify an exceptional sentence.
This is an opportunity to undo a policy that has had a disparate impact on the black community. Many of the assumptions behind the three strikes law have been shown to be false. These individuals are capable of reform and becoming productive members of society. There are many examples of offenders who have worked hard in prison to reform and embrace change even with limited opportunities for programming.
Robbery 2 is a nonviolent crime, yet the three strikes law put these offenders in the same class as those who have committed violent murder.
OTHER: While this bill will save money for the state, resentencing these individuals will cost money for the counties. Counties are strapped for cash and struggle to pay for current services. We ask the state to reinvest some of the savings into assisting counties with the cost of resentencing.