Marysville institutes mandatory minimums to end cycle of fentanyl

The Marysville City Council unanimously adopted mandatory minimum sentences for repeat criminals at a meeting Monday.

The action specifies crimes that include theft, criminal trespassing, vehicle prowling, and using illegal drugs in public.

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According to the city, the council’s vote “aims to underscore its commitment to both public health and safety.”

The new legislation implements a mandatory minimum jail time of 30 days for anyone who has committed three or more so-called public disorder crimes within the past five years. The minimum would increase to 60 days and then 90 for additional offenses. The third crime must also have occurred after the new law took effect.

“Marysville residents and businesses have been victimized by chronic and repeat offenders of these public disorder crimes long enough,” Council President Kamille Norton said in a statement. “Continuing with the status quo, which is clearly not working, is not an option.  This ordinance sends the message that we do not accept or tolerate this criminal behavior here.  It demands accountability for those repeatedly committing crimes while incentivizing a path to treatment and a better life for those who choose to take it.”

An offender may also petition the court to enter a treatment facility instead.

Mayor Jon Nehring, who helped craft the proposal, says part of the goal is to deal with the fentanyl crisis.

“Marysville’s jail is both a place for punitive measures as well as a resource for change,” Nehring said in the city’s release. “We firmly believe that by holding repeat offenders accountable and simultaneously providing access to drug treatment and rehabilitation programs, we can begin to break the cycle of drug addiction and crime.”

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Nehring said Marysville already has and will continue to support diversion programs — but that the fentanyl epidemic has provided new challenges that require new tactics. He said mandatory jail time could be reduced for completing treatment.

Mandatory minimums received a lot of pushback from social justice activists over the years, especially in relation to the federal War on Drugs. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit that works on prison reform, mandatory minimum sentencing does not actually reduce crime and has a disproportionate impact on minority communities.

“Incarceration itself is incredibly disruptive to people’s lives,” Jazmyn Clark, the Smart Justice campaign policy program director for the ACLU of Washington, told the Everett Herald. “You’re talking about a potential loss of employment, loss of housing, loss of the custody of their children, loss of any type of government resources.”