Bill to create pathway to early release for aggravated murder offenders dies in the House

After gaining fresh momentum this year, SB 5036 — the latest version of a bill to create a pathway to early release for inmates serving lengthy sentences, including life without parole and those sentenced for aggravated murder — appears to be dead for this session.

Senate Dems bring back bill that creates early release path for aggravated murderers, others

“There’s a lot of information out there on what people think this bill is about, but I really want to try to focus on what it is about,” said Democratic Senator, and bill sponsor, Manka Dhingra at a hearing in the House Public Safety Committee on Friday.

“This bill is about creating an opportunity. That’s what it is: an opportunity for individuals to show that they’re not the same person they were 20 years ago. This is about understanding that human beings change, they evolve. And it’s about redemption. That’s what this bill is about,” Dhingra explained.

She noted the bill does not create a blanket get out of prison free policy for people who, under the bill, would petition the revamped Clemency and Pardons Board for early release after serving 20 years of a life sentence, or 25 years for a life without parole sentence on aggravated murder.

“The first thing that someone has to consider is public safety, but they also have to consider an incarcerated individual’s acceptance of responsibility, remorse, and atonement, evidence of an incarcerated individual’s rehabilitation. It requires input from victims, police, prosecutors, the sentencing judge, it requires a risk assessment and psychological evaluation. That’s what it does. It creates an opportunity,” Dhingra explained.

“We all know none of us are the same as we were 20 years ago,” she added. “And that’s what this does recognize — that people change, people accept responsibility, and it behooves us to simply give people an opportunity to show that they’re different than they were 20 years ago.”

This version of the bill passed the Senate last session but fizzled out in the House. Then, this session, the Legislature pulled the bill back up for a floor vote with little notice, and it once again passed along party lines, with high hopes this time around for final passage in the House.

But those hopes were dashed Friday during a Public Safety Committee hearing when members of the Clemency and Pardons Board testified against the bill, and the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys pulled its support of the bill.

Prior to that testimony, King County NAACP President Gerald Hankerson explained all that had gone into crafting this version of the bill, which he noted included many voices and years of work to get to this point.

“The core of 5036 is … expanding the Clemency and Pardons Board from five to 10 to include members of the community who should have a seat at the table, and to be equipped with a racial equity analysis to allow the government to have a stop-gap measure to cure citizen inequities and disproportionality in our criminal justice system,” said Hankerson, who also sought to dispel damaging rumors about the bill.

“I want to dispel what I call the despicable rumor, which I call the big lie: This bill does not provide an opportunity for release to Gary Ridgeway [the Green River Killer]. Nothing can be further from the truth,” stressed Hankerson, who accused some Republican lawmakers of fearmongering on the airwaves by suggesting otherwise.

“Ridgeway, his plea agreement, does not allow him to apply for clemency or any relief for reducing his sentence of any kind whatsoever,” Hankerson said.

King County Prosecutors confirm that is true of Ridgeway’s plea agreement, and supporters of the bill say there are many safeguards in the bill that would ensure someone like the Green River Killer is not set free.

But that was not enough to stem the resistance and public safety concerns of many who have been opposed to the bill since the start.

“Elimination of the death penalty has always relied on life without parole as the alternative. We no longer have the death penalty. We need life without it, and those sentenced to death or life without should not be released,” testified James McMahan, with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, as he listed law enforcement’s multiple issues with the bill.

McMahan did acknowledge the many changes that had been made to improve SB 5036 based on WASPC feedback.

“We support providing more staff support to the Clemency and Pardons Board, but we oppose the restructuring of the board,” McMahan continued. “We strongly oppose section seven subsection five that requires the Clemency and Pardons Board to recommend release unless the board can prove that the person is likely to commit another offense.”

However, it was the words of three of the five members of the Clemency and Pardons Board itself that seemed to start the real brake push on 5036 this session.

“If the drafters and supporters of this bill had contacted the current members, they would have learned that we are a high functioning board made up of five members. I would venture to say it is one of the most diverse, if not the most diverse, board in the state,” testified one board member.

“Speaking for myself, by the very virtue of being a Black woman and the life experiences I’ve had as a Black woman, I look at these petitions through a racial equity lens. However, it is not the only lens I look through,” she added.

“There was absolutely no request of this board or any member of the board for any input on the bill — it was only after the bill cratered last year. Then it came as a surprise to the board when it came out of the Senate this year,” the board chair explained.

“I was contacted after the bill came out, asked if I could put some Band-Aids on it. And at that point in time, I said no, I think it’s well-intended but misguided and needed much more work,” he recalled.

The realization that the drafters of the bill had not reached out to the board or any of its members was enough to tip the scales, especially after Russell Brown with the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys announced WAPA’s change in position.

“As of Monday, we learned that the Clemency and Pardons Board itself had not been consulted, that the Clemency and Pardons Board itself had not provided direction for the provisions of the bill,” Brown said. “We also understand that many or most of the board would actually not be able to continue because of specific background requirements under Section Five. This makes no sense that we would take what we believe to be a wonderful resource in the community, a resource that we work with, a resource that we support, to help bring individuals from our prisons back to our communities. This bill had the unintended effect of actually gutting the board that we support.”

The NAACP’s Hankerson was not happy about that position switch.

“Personally, I find it disingenuous that WAPA is here today in opposition to the very bill they helped draft and ironically opposing the elements of the bill that they themselves included,” Hankerson said.

“We used to call that flip flop,” he added.

Protest aside, the damage was done and the bill is now dead, according to House Public Safety Chair Roger Goodman, who said on top of the issue of the board not being included in the discussions surrounding the bill and WAPA pulling support, there were constitutional issues that led to the bill’s demise.

Dhingra’s office confirmed the bill was dead, but offered no additional comment.

It’s not clear if this is the permanent end of the road for the policy, or if more work will be done to bring it back in yet another form in a future session.

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