EVERETT — A split City Council voted 4-2 last week to allow prosecutors to elect to add a 30-day mandatory minimum jail sentence on repeat offenders for specific crimes such as theft, assault or vehicle prowling.
The idea faced criticism from homeless advocates and criminal justice system experts who said lengthier sentences would not reach the city's intended goals to interrupt and decrease recidivism. Others who went into drug recovery because of a jail sentence wrote and spoke in favor, saying recovery turned their lives around.
Councilmembers Brenda Stonecipher, Judy Tuohy, Don Schwab and Ben Zarlingo voted for the ordinance. Councilmembers Mary Fosse and Paula Rhyne opposed.
Councilwoman Liz Vogeli was absent.
The eligible crimes are: theft, trespass, assault, harassment, use of a controlled substance in public, loitering to engage in drug-related activity, criminal mischief or vehicle prowling in Everett. A repeat offender
in Everett’s eyes is someone with two past convictions anywhere in the county in the past two years. The vote allows a city prosecutor to choose to add the 30-day minimum if the crime was in Everett and the case goes before Everett Municipal Court.
Assistant city attorney Lacey Offutt said a longer sentence could encourage people to enter treatment diversion programs versus facing the jail sentence.
The rule "is not aimed at people who use substances" since not all repeat criminals break the law for a substance abuse problem, Offutt said. However, Offutt said, the city thinks the most likely candidates would be repeat offenders who have substance abuse issues who haven't sought treatment.
Experts in the criminal justice system and those who had been behind bars in jail in their past told the council to oppose.
Carlos Lugo, who worked inside the state Department of Corrections, advised to look at other options that solve the root causes of crimes, such as behavioral psychology and model-based principles known to reduce recidivism.
"You can't punish people into sobriety," Chelaina Crews, a social worker with the Snohomish County Public Defender Association, said.
Jails are not safe for vulnerable people, Crews said, and longer jail times do not reduce recidivism.
"What I don't hear is getting them into treatment," said Jason Cockburn, the founder of an Everett recovery center.
Jim Chambers said the $182 a day to incarcerate someone could be better spent elsewhere, and after jail affected people will come back out in the same situation: homeless and addicted.
Mayor Cassie Franklin said she’s put it forward to give another way to address crime.
"I believe tools like this are useful in addressing some of the challenges in a way that balances accountability and compassion," Franklin said.
Everett's law follows the pattern of a similar law Marysville enacted in October, however, Franklin said
she was discussing this with one of Everett's municipal judges in August. Marysville uses a five-year history to classify whether they can be called a repeat offender. Everett's law looks at a two-year history.
A few council members, such as Schwab, said this could be effective in interrupting the cycle. He noted it gives the small group of repeat offenders a choice: treatment or jail.
"I think it will have some good positive effects in reducing crimes," Schwab said.
A few council members such as Fosse did not agree with the ordinance’s absoluteness that it gives a prosecutor the final decision whether to add the sentence enhancement.
"I have trouble with making that mandatory," Fosse said.
You don’t get results from using mandatory minimums and taking away discretion from judges, Fosse said.
Rhyne, who with Fosse voted no, said the rule would disproportionately impact homeless individuals. "I want safer streets for our city, but this is not how you get there," Rhyne said.
An amendment Fosse put forward to make it optional versus mandatory for the court to add a prosecutor's enhanced sentence was voted down 4-2.
Offutt said the city will be able to track recidivism rates for the group that could face extended sentences.
The city will give an annual report on who is given lengthier sentences, as well as general calculations on the fiscal impacts of jailing individuals for longer periods of time under the 30-day rule. Fosse and Rhyne added these accountability checks which council approved 6-0.
