Earlier release of serious criminals? Washington state shouldn’t go through with this

The most serious, violent and predatory criminals in state prison today could get years off their sentences under a proposal before the Legislature.

Washington prisoners can earn early release, also known as “good time.” Currently it’s a tiered system: low level offenders can earn up to a third off their sentence; for violent and sex offenses, up to 10% off.

HB 1282 would make one third good time applicable to all offenses and apply it retroactively to those already in prison.

This isn’t about prisoners serving time for low level felony cases – mostly property and drug crimes. They can already earn a third off their sentence.

Instead the bill provides an early-release windfall to the most serious offenders, those serving time for murder, rape, kidnap, etc. Their sentences could be reduced by years.

This is a bad policy. Most cases, even serious violent felonies, resolve with a negotiated plea agreement. The accused pleads guilty to reduced charges, knowing the sentence will be lower than what they are facing if convicted.

A plea agreement ensures the prosecutor, defense attorney, defendant, crime victims and judge all have a mutual understanding of the sentencing range. The judge imposes a sentence after considering individualized information about the crime and the defendant.

All parties have an expectation of how long an offender will serve in prison before being eligible for release.

HB 1282 would upend past negotiations and undermine the expectations of all involved.

When young children are victims, prosecutors often enter plea agreements that provide the child and family some assurance that the offender will be in custody at least until the child reaches a certain age: 16, 18 or even 21 years old.

Such agreements protect kids from having to testify in court, which can be another traumatic ordeal, while giving the child and family some closure and peace.

Such was the case with Micheal Collins Johnson, who was sentenced in Pierce County Superior Court in 2015 for child rape and molestation. The victim, parents and court expected him to be incarcerated at least until the victim turned 18, but under HB 1282 he could be released much sooner.

Proponents argue that early release from prison should have no appreciable effect on recidivism, but the data they cite comes from an earlier measure where non-violent offenders in Washington were released early – an average of 63 days early.

Legitimate recidivism data is hard to come by, but a 63-day early release for a non-violent offender does not correlate to taking years off the sentences of violent offenders.

HB 1282 is touted to save the state Department of Corrections millions. The projected savings could mean this bill will be enacted as “necessary to implement the budget.”

But public safety and criminal justice outcomes should not be driven by a fiscal bottom line. The true cost of releasing violent offenders years early cannot be known.

This experiment would be a gamble with public safety.

Instead of sentence reductions across the board, we should be evaluating individual cases for early release from prison.

Last year, the Legislature gave prosecutors the option of petitioning the court for resentencing in appropriate cases. The governor also has the ability to grant early release through the pardons and clemency process.

Under this sweeping proposal, those who have taken steps toward rehabilitation will be treated the same as those who have done nothing to improve and become law-abiding. The bill does nothing to sort low-risk offenders from those who are likely to re-offend.

Increased good time for violent and sex offenders also has the unfortunate effect of creating proportionally longer sentences for low level offenders.

During this pandemic violent crime is up, here and nationally, and criminal case backlogs are unprecedented.

The wholesale release of our most serious violent criminal and sex offenders into our community while we grapple with resurgent crime rates and court backlogs is the last thing we need.

Mary Robnett is serving her first term as Pierce County prosecutor. Before her election in 2018, she spent six years as as an assistant state attorney general in the sexually violent predators unit and 18 years in the county prosecutor’s office.