3-Strikes: I Am Not A Disposable Human Being

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Thursday March 27, 2008 · 8:24 PM PDT

2008/03/27 · 20:24

Below the fold is a post by Ron Peters, sentenced to life without parole under Washington's 3-Strikes law for a Robbery 2, a Robbery 1, and a Burglary.

Washington was the first state in the nation to pass a 3-Strikes law and ours is the harshest. In 1993, voters approved the initiative which read: "By aiming at 3-time violent offenders, (593) targets the `worst of the worst' criminals."

Few people would consider robbery 2, which is committed without use of a deadly weapon, to be a "worst of the worst" crime. Washington's Sentencing Guidelines Commission recommended removing it from the list of 3-Strikes offenses in 2001. Efforts to do this are defeated in the legislature every year. Ron's post is part of this series. If you're from Washington, please visit that page to connect with this project. We need your help. Read More

Imprisoned for Life in Washington for an Attempted Wallet Grab

noemie maxwell

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Tuesday January 15, 2008 · 12:59 PM PST

2008/01/15 · 12:59

JOIN: 3-Strikes Rapid Response

Washington was the first state in the nation to impose a 3-strikes law. Below the fold is a guest post from Al-Kareem Shadeed, who is serving Life without Parole under Washington's 3-Strikes law for two robberies and an attempted robbery that he committed in his teens and early 20s. His crimes involved no weapons and no injuries.

Photo above by Inye Wokome, NWColors Magazine. Used with permission. Read More

A WA 3-Striker on disproportionality: life for unarmed, no-injury crimes:

noemie maxwell

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Sunday December 30, 2007 · 9:17 PM PST

2007/12/30 · 21:17

Washington was the first state in the nation to impose a 3-strikes and you're out law. Our law is the harshest in the nation. Stevan Dozier has served 14 years under 3-Strikes for three unarmed robberies in the second degree that he committed over a decade ago -- the last one a purse snatching. He was unarmed, there were no injuries, and small amounts of money were involved. His case is not unusual. Robbery 2 is the most common 3-strikes offense in Washington.

Dozier contributed an opinion piece on this law for publication. I've republished it below the fold here. Nationally, a tough-on-crime political environment is holding us hostage to irrational -- and unjust policies and exerting a very destructive influence on elections. I'd appreciate advice on strategies to influence policies like Washington's 3-Strikes. Read More

Top WA Repubs "Merge" State's GOP and Attorney General Office

noemie maxwell

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Tuesday February 20, 2007 · 9:52 AM PST

2007/02/20 · 09:52

Adapted from Washblog

This is the image from the faux Attorney General (AG) letterhead used in 06 by WA AG Rob McKenna to support a GOP candidate for state Senate.

During the same election, McKenna recorded a robocall, identifying himself as WA's AG and urging votes for Luke Esser for state Rep.

Both cases represent a conflating of public and partisan roles by top Republicans in a state with strict ethics in public service laws. This story details how Luke Esser, who just left his position under McKenna in WA's AG office to take the State GOP Chair, has confused public and private again, perhaps illegally. McKenna and Esser are central to WA's GOP power structure, and McKenna is said to have national ambitions. They need to be held to account. If you're from WA, please visit the Washblog story, take the poll, and pass it on.<hr> Read More

Live Blogging: Citizens' Tribunal on Iraq War

noemie maxwell

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Sunday January 21, 2007 · 2:32 PM PST

2007/01/21 · 14:32

Cross-posted on Washblog

photo by Jason Osgood

'The most difficult thing a person can do inside or outside the military is to think. Lieutenant Watada is causing Americans to think. His stand has forced Americans to think about this war. All Americans have a responsibility to think and to act.' Zoltan Grossman, Evergreen State College faculty member, is making the introductory remarks at the Citizen's Hearing on the Legality of US Actions in Iraq.

Jason Osgood (Zappini of Washblog) and I have just arrived at the hearing, held at the Evergreen State College Tacoma campus. 'This an effort for one weekend to set up a parallel citizen's government...' on the legality of the war, says Grossman, because the judge in Lieutenant Watada's case has disallowed the consideration of all substantive issues. (U.S. Army 1st Lt. Watada is the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq.)

noemie maxwell

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Monday December 11, 2006 · 2:10 PM PST

2006/12/11 · 14:10

Press Release from the Organizing Committee for the Citizens’ Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq
Tribunal Announced on 60th Anniversary of Nuremberg Principles.

The "Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq" will be held on January 20-21, 2007, in Tacoma, Washington, two weeks before the February 5th court martial of 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada at Fort Lewis. Organizing Committee member Rob Crawford, Associate Professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma says that the national event "will put the Iraq War on trial, in response to the Army's trial of Lt. Watada, the first U.S. military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq."

Organizers announced the upcoming tribunal today, December 11th, on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly's affirmation of the Nuremberg Principles, which--in the aftermath of World War II--disallowed soldiers from following unlawful orders that can lead to war crimes.

noemie maxwell

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Wednesday October 25, 2006 · 3:01 PM PDT

2006/10/25 · 15:01

(Cross-posted at Washblog. Also see harto's related DailyKos post: Did Howard Rich break the law?) This is third in a series of posts I have written on Stephen Johnson, a senator in Washington state's 47th Legislative District, where I live. Johnson's now running for state Supreme Court. My first two posts:

Senator Johnson has never been a judge, so it's natural for voters to look at to his 12-year record as a state senator to understand what he might be like as a judge. Johnson makes two reassuring claims about that record. First, as he says in an Aug 06 Seattle PI Podcast, he has a "moderate to conservative voting record." Second, he says, his judicial philosophy -- one of restraint -- will not be affected by his legislative philosophy. But Johnson is one of Washington's most conservative Republican senators. And he's amply signalled to the Religious Right that his legislative record shows he's their philosophical friend. Read More

WA Supreme Court Candidate: "I'd get rid of all the Democrats"

noemie maxwell

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Wednesday October 18, 2006 · 12:01 PM PDT

2006/10/18 · 12:01

This story is the second in a series about Washington Senator Stephen Johnson, who is running for state Supreme Court. The first, Stephen Johnson and BIAW team up to reshape Washington Supreme Court, reports that Johnson and a key funder for his campaign, the Building Industry Association of Washington State (BIAW), are justifying the need to elect a pro-development candidate on a claim that Washington government is out to steal citizen land. Key supporting evidence they present is demonstrably false.

Here I report on denigrating remarks that Johnson made about Democrats in general -- and about Democratic Representative Simpson specifically -- when Johnson visited a fifth grade classroom in Auburn in 2004. I knew the teacher, Jennifer Deshaies, and she told me the story at the time. Representative Simpson also recounts here what appear to have been purposeful tactics used by Johnson to gain political advantage at the expense of his colleague and of good public policy. It appears that Johnson is an active participant in Washington GOP's culture of aggressive partisanship.* Read More

New Netroots Agenda in Washington State

noemie maxwell

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Monday August 14, 2006 · 4:29 PM PDT

2006/08/14 · 16:29

There's something new this morning, the Washington State Netroots Agenda. This is the brainchild of Emmett O'Connell, owner/writer of Olympia Time. Hosts: Institute for Washington's Future (IWF), Washblog, Evergreen Politics, Democracy for Washington, and Olympia Time. The idea is to conduct a contest, similar in structure to SEIU's Since Sliced Bread but focused on policy ideas for the Washington State Legislature. In mid-November community votes will have winnowed it down to the top seven. These will be presented to state legislators at a prime time in the legislative cycle for considering new bills. The idea posting begins now. Read More

25 Democrats who Swung a State

noemie maxwell

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Monday April 24, 2006 · 10:04 AM PDT

2006/04/24 · 10:04

(Cross posted in a different version at Washblog.) The 47th Legislative District of Washington is a kind of "ground zero" for the Darcy Burner campaign in the 8th Congressional District. We're a true swing district that has been represented mostly by Republicans for years and has slowly been turning blue.

Darcy is our chance for effective and balanced representation in the 47th, which includes the more working class south King County and the techie Bellevue area to the east. Dave Reichert who represents us now has been marketed as a moderate -- but has sided with his DC buddies against the middle class, good government, and civil liberties at almost every turn.

For years, the small group of Democrats in the 47th kept their grassroots organization going and intensively reached out to voters, knowing that times could change.

noemie maxwell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday January 06, 2006 · 11:35 AM PST

2006/01/06 · 11:35

Also posted on Washblog

We find ourselves in a time when democratic institutions are under coordinated siege -- and injustice and unreason are publicly celebrated as right in line with American values. In the words of Gara LaMarche of the Open Society Institute, these threats to open society call for "a serious and coordinated response."

I've been wondering about the role of progressive bloggers in that response -- particularly in relation to that emerging phenomenon so engagingly known as the progressive infrastructure -- and particularly in relation to Washington State and the Pacific Northwest. The idea of a consciously devised architecture that is making a place not just for progressive policies, but also for progressivism as a whole, that is designed to help us transcend our current dynamic of continual reaction to assaults on sustainable society from the right, is attractive indeed. It does seem past time to get better grounded in some strategic meta-collaboration.

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3-Strikes: I Am Not A Disposable Human Being

Imprisoned for Life in Washington for an Attempted Wallet Grab

A WA 3-Striker on disproportionality: life for unarmed, no-injury crimes:

Top WA Repubs "Merge" State's GOP and Attorney General Office

Live Blogging: Citizens' Tribunal on Iraq War

Citizens' Hearing to Put Iraq War "On Trial" Before Lt. Watada Court Martial

Religious Right wants Stephen Johnson on WA Supreme Court

WA Supreme Court Candidate: "I'd get rid of all the Democrats"

New Netroots Agenda in Washington State

25 Democrats who Swung a State

Conspiring for Good: Blogging and the "Emerging Progressive Infrastructure"