Sentencing

Racial disparities in mandatory life sentences imposed under Washington’s third-strike law.

An elderly man with dementia was convicted of indecent exposure and sentenced to 3 times the jail time

In this case, the ACLU urged the Washington Supreme Court to allow juveniles and young adults to challenge the draconian adult sentences imposed on them, because youth has been recognized as a mitigating factor in sentencing.

In this case, the ACLU urged the Washington Supreme Court to allow juveniles and young adults to challenge the draconian adult sentences imposed on them, because youth has been recognized as a mitigating factor in sentencing.

We filed an amicus brief with other amici with the Washington Supreme Court arguing that the widely recognized “mitigating factors of youth” should allow for concurrent sentences rather than the consecutive ones required by adult sentencing standards.

WA Supreme Court needs to address whether a sentence of life without parole (LWOP) constitutes cruel punishment when it is imposed under a three strikes mandatory minimum statute and some of the crimes were committed when the defendant was a young adult.

Criminal case in which a woman who complied with all the terms of her sentence following a criminal conviction and spent the last decade rehabilitating herself was denied the vacation of her conviction.