OLYMPIA — Dozens of third-strike prisoners serving life without parole after second-degree burglary convictions are entitled to new sentencing hearings under a bill Gov. Jay Inslee signed Monday.
Second-degree burglary used to be considered one of Washington’s most serious offenses, a conviction of which led to one of three “strikes” that lead to persistent offenders being sentenced to life without parole.
The crime typically doesn’t involve a weapon or injury, and lawmakers in 2019 removed it as a most serious offense as they reconsidered the tough-on-crime policies of the past. At the time, however, lawmakers declined to allow people already serving life without parole after a second-degree robbery conviction to be resentenced.
The racial reckoning over the police killings of Black people helped spur this session’s legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jeannie Darneille, a Tacoma Democrat who has been pushing similar legislation for at least 15 years.
