WA Voters Asked To Approve Constitutional Amendment On Bail
Austin Jenkins
| March 16, 2010 | Olympia, WA
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| Family Members of Slain Lakewood Police Officers Look on as Rep. Mike Hope, a Seattle Police officer, Launches the Campaign for a Constitutional Amendment on Bail |
This November, Washington voters will be asked to approve a constitutional amendment to make it easier for judges to withhold bail. Tuesday, a bipartisan group of supporters launched the public campaign for what's being called the Lakewood Law Enforcement Memorial Act. The setting was the police officers' memorial on Washington's capitol campus. In attendance were the governor, attorney general, lawmakers from both political parties and two widows. Their husbands were among the four Lakewood, Washington police officers murdered last November by an Arkansas parolee. State Representative Chris Hurst is a former police officer and co-sponsor of the constitutional amendment. “I have a message for folks when they think about this. Should a person stand at a bus stop waiting for a bus, a citizen, and be stabbed to death by somebody awaiting trial. Should a police officer be shot in the back of the head while having a cup of coffee? This is a very simple question and the answer is very simple. No," he said.That's why, Hurst said, Washington voters this fall should vote yes to make a rare change to the state constitution. It would let judges withhold bail in cases where the accused faces the possibility of life in prison. Plus there's clear and convincing evidence that person poses a danger to society. If it passes, the Lakewood Memorial Act would be the first criminal justice constitutional amendment in Washington since 1989. That's when voters approved the Crime Victims' Rights Act.
© 2010 Northwest News Network
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