Oregon Public Broadcasting

A proposal to amend Washington's constitution in response to the Lakewood police officer murders is running into rough legislative waters.

Last week, the House passed a scaled back version of the legislation first proposed by the Governor. Now the State Senate is poised to vote on an even more narrowly worded amendment. Austin Jenkins explains.

Under Governor Chris Gregoire's proposal, judges would have been able to withhold bail in cases where they believed the defendant posed a threat to public safety.

But that language was too broad for many Democrats in the House. So they passed a constitutional amendment that says bail can be denied when the accused faces life in prison with the possibility of parole.

This week the Senate is expected to consider another option that would apply in even fewer cases -- only where conviction would result in prison without parole.

The governor notes her approach had the support of police, prosecutors and judges.

Chris Gregoire: "All agreed that the better course of action was what I proposed. But again, my number one priority is get something done. We are not going home until we get something done on this issue."

Currently judges in Washington can only withhold bail in capital murder cases.

Any change to the state constitution would have to be approved by voters.