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by Jack Russillo
During this year’s session, the Washington State Legislature voted nearly along party lines to pass a bill that removes all second-degree robbery convictions from the list of charges that apply to the state’s “three strikes” policy.
On April 26, Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5164 into law, which will grant a resentencing hearing to people who have already been convicted of second-degree robbery and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole under the three strikes law because of that conviction. Currently, there are more than 100 people in Washington who will be able to have their cases reviewed for clemency, with the possibility of reducing or eliminating their sentences, once the legislation becomes active on July 25.
“The passing of 5164 is really a testament to the statement, ‘the majority matters,’” said Sen. Jeannie Darneille of the state’s 27th Legislative District, who sponsored the bill. “This bill was passed without any Republican support, and it’s only because of the healthy majorities that the Democrats have that we were able to move any of these three bills forward in the last three years.”
Continue reading Legislation Removes Second-Degree Robbery Charges From Three Strikes Law