Support the Sentencing Reform Act

In 1981, the Washington State Legislature enacted the Sentencing Reform Act ("SRA"), which established the Sentencing Guidelines Commission and directed it to recommend to the Legislature a determinate sentencing system for adult felonies. The principal goal of the new sentencing guidelines system was to ensure that offenders who commit similar crimes and have similar criminal histories receive equivalent sentences. Sentences were to be determined by the seriousness of the offense and by the criminal record of the offender.

The Commission completed the original adult felony sentencing "grid" in 1982, and the Legislature enacted it into law in 1983. The Sentencing Reform Act took effect for crimes committed on and after July 1, 1984. Codified in chapter 9.94A RCW, the SRA contains the guidelines and procedures used by the courts to impose sentences for adult felonies. The Commission continues to advise the Legislature on necessary adjustments to the sentencing structure

Prior to 1984, sentences imposed for adult felonies in Washington were indeterminate. Courts had wide discretion over whether or not to impose a prison sentence and the length of any sentence. The Board of Prison Terms and Paroles then decided when or whether to release an offender within the statutory maximum sentence period. Indeterminate sentencing is still in effect for more than 750 prison inmates who committed crimes before July 1, 1984. The Indeterminate Sentence Review Board sets the release dates for those offenders.

The Legislature has amended the Sentencing Reform Act in almost every legislative session, requiring longer periods of confinement for violent offenders, sex offenders and drug offenders. Statewide citizen initiatives have also resulted in the imposition of longer prison terms, including longer sentences for armed crime and also the nation%u2019s first "three strikes and you%u2019re out" measure. Where average prison terms have increased markedly in length, the state%u2019s prison population has more than doubled since 1984.

In 1996 the Legislature directed the Commission to assume the functions of the Juvenile Disposition Standards Commission, serving similar functions with regard to juvenile sentencing.

The SRA was enacted to help make the criminal justice system more accountable to the public by developing a sentencing system which structures or guides, but does not eliminate, the use of judicial discretion in sentencing adult felony offenders. The SRA established the following goals for felony sentencing (see RCW 9.94A.010):

1. Ensure that the punishment for a criminal offense is proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the offender%u2019s criminal history;
2. Promote respect for the law by providing punishment which is just;
3. Ensure that the punishment imposed on any offender is commensurate with the punishment imposed on others committing similar offenses;
4. Protect the public;
5. Offer the offender an opportunity to improve him or herself;
6. Make frugal use of the state%u2019s and local governments%u2019 resources; and
7. Reduce the risk of re-offending by offenders in the community.

The sentencing guidelines system is designed to ensure that offenders who commit similar crimes and have similar criminal histories receive equivalent sentences. The adult felony sentencing grid is structured so that offenses involving greater harm to a victim and to society result in greater punishment. The guidelines apply equally to offenders in all parts of the state, without discrimination as to any element that does not relate to the crime or to the defendant%u2019s previous criminal record.