State House members voted Friday to limit the state constitutional right to bail for those accused of the most serious crimes, saying the right of the public to be safe must come first.
Lawmakers have come up with multiple responses to the murder of four Lakewood police officers in November, but supporters say a change in bail rights would have done more than anything else to keep cop killer Maurice Clemmons behind bars.
“This is the only thing that really, really could have prevented the Lakewood police shootings,” said Rep. Mike Hope, a Seattle police officer and Republican.
Clemmons posted bail on felony assault and sex-crime charges six days before shooting the officers in a Parkland coffee shop. Currently, judges can deny bail only to suspects facing a death sentence.
Changing the state constitution requires support by at least two-thirds of the House and Senate and a majority of voters, so the change has a way to go as it moves to the Senate. But word of the first major vote was enough to leave Genie DeLong – mother of slain officer Tina Griswold – choked up with emotion.
“This won’t bring Tina back, but I am so glad,” said DeLong, of Post Falls, Idaho. “It may save the lives of countless others, and that’s what our whole total goal is.”
In passing the amendment, the House scaled back a proposal by Gov. Chris Gregoire to give judges sweeping authority to detain people who they believe endanger public safety.
Instead, they backed allowing judges to detain only people charged with the most serious crimes, the ones who carry a sentence as long as life in prison – including murder, rape, first-degree robbery, burglary and arson.
The last-minute change in the measure wasn’t enough to satisfy House members who wanted fewer offenses covered, concerned about civil liberties for people who, they stressed, have been accused but not convicted of a crime.
“We’re not other countries in the world that presume you guilty,” Rep. Sherry Appleton, a Poulsbo Democrat, said.
The measure passed the House on an 80-17 vote.
Both Gregoire’s office and the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, which supports the governor’s version of the change, were nevertheless pleased.
Marty Brown, Gregoire’s legislative director, called the House vote “a step in the right direction.” Jamie Daniels, executive director of the police council, said she was glad the debate over bail hasn’t become partisan or divisive.
Sen. Mike Carrell, a Lakewood Republican who has taken the lead on the constitutional amendment in the Senate, expects the work between House and Senate to be similarly free of conflict.
“We’ll work this out,” he said.
Staff writer Brad Shannon contributed to this report.
Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826
jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com
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