The Voices of Victims are in Danger of Being Eliminated from Washington State's Criminal Justice System

Over the past decade, I have watched a significant change take place in the criminal justice system.  What was once a system designed to ensure justice for victims of crime has become a system focused on protecting the accused.  What was once a system of accountability has become a system of irresponsibility. And what was once a system based on truth and facts has become a system of misinformation and ideology.  No longer do victims of crime feel safe.

Recently it was brought to my attention that the state of Washington’s supreme court was currently considering a proposal submitted by several public defender defense organizations that would fundamentally and radically change the pretrial release process across the entire state.  What is frightening about this is that the only recourse the public has to voice their opinion on the proposed court rules is through submitting a letter of opposition to the supreme court.  No hearing, no testimony, no discussions…just an email that gets logged and displayed on a website for the public to see.  It almost seems as though this is being done this way on purpose so as to avoid any real public opposition.

Even more disturbing is the actual proposal submitted.  It consists of a 10-page document with over 84 citations and footnotes.  What was noticeably missing from the document’s voluminous sources and references was any mention of victims.  In fact, the word victim doesn’t even appear once in the report.  Think about that.  A proposal that is all about the process for releasing individuals who have been accused of a crime back into the public has no mention of victims.  It is not only shocking, but even more so, frightening.  How can a responsible group of attorneys and judges simply ignore the most vulnerable population in the criminal justice system, the victim.

In a recent 5-part series on Washington State’s bail reform effort, JL Fullerton goes through each of the arguments made by the proponents of this proposal and highlights the questionable data and failed policies used to rationalize these changes.  While each article is interesting and informative, the last article in the series, Part 5, directly discusses the lack of care or concern for victims.  Below is an excerpt from the article as well as a link to the AIA Surety site that includes a summary of all 5 articles as well as links to them on the Bail Reform Truth Website.  As always, feel free to comment and share. 

Washington State Bail Reform: 
The False Narrative Behind Washington State’s Proposed Court Rules
A Five Article Expose by JL Fullerton

For many years, Washington State has had one of the most effective bail systems in the country.  The product of a bipartisan task force, Washington’s pretrial release system strikes a good balance between liberty and accountability for all parties, including the accused and victims.  That is why other states have considered Washington State as the gold standard. What it does not cite — not once — is any research on how pretrial release decisions affect crime victims. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE>>>