Washington State's Mass Incarceration Trends

In the era of mass incarceration, Washington State has seen significant increases in its prison population, with a focus on violent offenders. Legislative policies have evolved over the years, impacting sentences and crime rates. This comprehensive review covers statistics on inmate demographics, sentence lengths, crime types, and policy changes from the 1980s to 2015.

• Washington
• Mass Incarceration
• Prison Population
• Legislative Policies
• Crime Trends

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1. WASHINGTON IN THE ERA OF MASS INCARCERATION David Boerner Professor of Law Emeritus Seattle University School of Law Stacy Smith Program Manager Washington State Minority and Justice Commission

2. 18, 445 INMATES IN 2015

3. 2015: ALL INMATES BY CRIME

4. 2015: VIOLENT CRIMES BY TYPE

5. HOW LONG ARE SENTENCES

6. 2014 RACE/ETHNICITY Race/Ethnicity % of Total Inmates % of Total Population 81.2% 3.9% 1.8% 8.4% 12.2% White Black AIAN 71.6% 18.0% 4.6% 3.7% 12.8% 1.1% 1.0% Asian/Pacific Islander Hispanic Other Unknown

7. LEGISLATIVE POLICY 1981: Emphasize confinement for the violent offender and alternatives to total confinement for the non-violent offenders. RCW 9.94A.040(5)

8. VIOLENT OFFENSES

9. NONVIOLENT OFFENSES

10. LEGISLATIVE POLICY CHANGES: WAR ON DRUGS COMES TO WASHINGTON 1987: First time offender waiver (FTOW) abolished 1989: Increase sentence length Multiple scoring of prior offenses School zone enhancement

11. PRISON POPULATION BY CRIME TYPE 1990-2015 350 300 46.7 44.1 45.5 47.5 44.7 48 250 48.1 48 40.1 41.2 38.2 48.1 45.4 49.9 37.7 37.3 49 35.6 36.2 40.8 33.5 31.5 26.2 Rate per 100K 50.5 45.7 28 53.3 30.7 19.6 22.6 30.4 20.6 200 22.7 55.6 56.3 31 53.8 30.8 53.8 53.4 53 32.6 53.7 55.5 50.6 51.8 46.2 150 25.9 45.4 52 36.4 28.8 200.4 198.8 198.5 198.2 195.6 193.5 191.6 100 189.6 185.6 185.2 183.1 179.5 168.6 166.9 164.4 159.1 155.9 154.8 143.3 135.3 129.3 135 117.2 117 98.4 50 93.2 0 2005 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Violent Drug Property Other/Unknown

12. REVISED PUBLIC POLICY 1991: Community Protection Task Force increased sentence length for sex offenses 1993: 3 Strikes Initiative 593 1995: Hard Time for Armed Crime Initiative 159

13. LEGISLATIVE POLICY 2003: Drug grid adopted Sentence length decreased Multiple scoring of prior offenses eliminated

14. VIOLENT CRIMES 1990-2015 250 200 66.4 63.1 61.8 64.8 60.7 63.7 150 62 62.4 57.5 58 53.8 46.5 45.1 60 36.8 40.3 46 43 29.9 23.9 20.8 28.8 28.7 30.4 17.5 27.8 17.2 27.2 26.1 27.9 24.4 25.3 27.1 25.5 26.2 100 25.3 26.4 26.4 23.1 25.1 25.7 25.2 22.9 25.5 22.9 12 14.2 24.2 23 17.4 24.8 22.5 57.3 58.7 53.5 58.1 56.4 53.1 55 55.8 52.3 51.1 50.8 51.3 50.5 49.7 53.1 54.1 51.5 50 48.1 53.6 52.2 47.9 45.8 50 43.5 39.4 35.1 38.2 39.5 40.7 36.1 35.2 39.2 36.3 37.3 38.3 31.1 36.7 36.6 40.4 34.4 29.8 36.7 35.2 34 31.8 33 32.5 28.5 24.6 24.6 31 29 0 1998 2008 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Homicide 1997 1999 2000 Sex 2001 2002 2003 Robbery 2004 2005 2006 2007 Assault 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

15. Contact Professor Boerner with questions about this material at (253)709-1181.