Washington State's Proposed "Willful Non-Appearance" Trap Will Re-Victimize Crime Survivors
I just recently read an article that interested me. This article was about Washington state’s supreme court and how they are proposing new court rules around pretrial release for their criminal justice system. As a victim advocate who has stood beside survivors of domestic violence, assault, robbery, and other crimes, I have watched bail reform and expanded soft on crime pretrial release policies quietly rewrite the rules in ways that inflict fresh harm on the very people the justice system is supposed to protect. These new court rules—redefine the concept of a “failure to appear” (FTA) to a completely different concept of “willful non-appearance”—sounds like a minor legal tweak, but it is devastating for victims. Prosecutors and courts must now prove the defendant deliberately intended to skip court, not simply that they missed the date. Defendants can offer any excuse—forgotten hearing, no ride, family emergency—and without ironclad proof of intent, bench warrants are delayed, release conditions stay in place, and the incentive to appear evaporates. The result is more missed court dates, endless delays, and victims trapped in limbo while the person who harmed them remains free under pretrial release programs sold as “fairness.”
This change directly re-victimizes survivors. Every time a defendant fails to appear without real consequences, victims must relive their trauma at rescheduled hearings, face renewed fear of retaliation, and endure prolonged uncertainty about whether justice will ever come. Families who have already suffered lose wages from repeated court trips, struggle with anxiety waiting for closure, and watch the system treat their pain as secondary to the defendant’s convenience. In New York’s 2019 bail reform laws, for example, 48-hour notice before warrants and the new “willful” standard turned court dates into optional suggestions rather than obligations. Similar language is now embedded in other states’ pretrial release statutes and risk-assessment tools. Victims tell me they feel abandoned—defendants learn there is little risk in skipping court, while survivors pay the emotional and practical price of a system that has lost its leverage.
This proposed change is a horrible and dangerous idea. Washington state currently has a very good pretrial release system that utilizes bail agents and financially secured surety bonds (bail bonds). Bail agents are on the hook for the full bail amount, so they ensure that the defendant shows up for court and the victim gets a chance at justice. This is how it has worked for years. And now suddenly, for no reason at all, a new progressive set of judges wants things to change. It makes no sense and it is dangerous and irresponsible.
Criminal justice must put victims first. Replacing clear failure-to-appear rules with a “willful non-appearance” loophole is not reform—it is a surrender that leaves survivors waiting longer, fearing more, and trusting less. Jurisdictions serious about safe, effective pretrial release should strengthen professional surety bonds, not weaken them with semantic escapes that let defendants off the hook. Victims have already paid the highest price; the least the system can do is guarantee their day in court arrives on time. An excerpt of the article is below as well as a link to the full article.
The "Willful Non-Appearance" Trap: How Bail Reform Activists are Eroding Accountability
By Eric Granof
In the push for bail reform and expanded pretrial release, some jurisdictions have quietly rewritten a core enforcement tool: redefining “failure to appear” (FTA) as “willful non-appearance.” What sounds like a minor semantic tweak—adding the word “willful”—is very significant as it fundamentally shifts the burden. Prosecutors and courts must now prove not just that a defendant missed a court date, but that they did so with deliberate intent to evade justice. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE>>>
