From Lisa Daugaard, Director at the Public Defender Association, on the development of Washington I-940
This huge shift and major development grew out of the work of many people:
In 2015, a team of Seattle Times reporters wrote “Shielded by the Law,” documenting that out of 213 police killings in WA, only one officer had been charged with criminal conduct (and none convicted) because of WA’s impossible threshold for criminal liability for officers who use deadly force recklessly or negligently. (Mike Carter, Christine Willmsen, Steve Miletich, Justin Mayo)
A push for legislative change led by activists from Olympia led to a Task Force on police use of deadly force, evenly balanced between police and community voices. The community coalition that formed there hung together for several more years through I-940. (Leslie Cushman, Karen Johnson, Crystal Renée Chaplin, Tim Reynon, Kim Mosolf, Toshiko Grace Hasegawa, Gerald Hankerson, De'Sean Quinn, Jorge L. Baron)
Not This Time brought new energy and confidence to the battle to change the WA legal standard for criminal liability for officers who use deadly force. I-940 passes in 2018, and in 2019 legislative amendments were adopted with wide consensus. (Andre' Taylor, Athena Taylor, Devitta Briscoe, Nina Gregory, Bonnie L. Fluckinger, Monisha Harrell, Leslie Cushman, Lindsey Grad, Chris Lampkin, Xochitl Maykovich, Heather Michelle Villanueva, Alison Holcomb, Nina Martinez, Loretta Gutierrez, Monalisa Earl, Ehren Flygare)
James Bible originally identified a right to counsel in the inquest process as a top priority.
Corey Guilmette at PDA and Not This Time, with families who were facing or had already gone through inquests without lawyers, fought for "Sonia's Law," after Sonia Joseph, mom of Giovann Joseph McDade, which established a right to counsel for families facing inquests after a death in custody. (Monika Williams, Katrina Johnson, Tonya Isabell, Marilyn Covarrubias)
The King County Council members passed "Sonia's Law."
The Department of Public Defense attorneys then began providing counsel to families. (Anita Khandelwal, La Rond Baker)
DPD lawyers Amy Parker and Susy Sobel shed light on the multiple killings this officer was involved in.
The family and friends of Jesse Sarey, including Elaine Simons, never stopped pushing for justice in Jesse's case.
And King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and Mark Larson, who retired but committed to seeing this critical work through.
Step by step.
