KPLU Local News
(2010-10-22)
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A ballot measure would make it easier to deny bail to people charged with felonies. The move is a response to the killing of 4 Lakewood police officers by Maurice Clemmons, who had just been released from jail on bail.
(KPLU) -
It was about a year ago that four Lakewood police officers were shot to death while sitting in a coffee shop. The killer, Maurice Clemmons, had just gotten out of jail on bail. Now voters are being asked to make it easier for judges to keep suspects like Clemmons behind bars.
The official ballot title for the measure that would give judges more leeway in denying bail is Engrossed Substitute House Joint Resolution 4220.
Supporters say it corrects a flaw in the state constitution that allows someone like Maurice Clemmons, who had a long criminal history and was facing a possible life sentence for a third strike offense, to get out on bail.
In jailhouse phone tapes, Clemmons can be heard ranting about the police.
"This will be the last time they say Hey Mister. Boom," he says at one point.
The tapes were obtained by the Seattle Times through a public records request.
On the phone, Clemmons tells his wife he's not going to be submissive anymore and that by the end of November the cops will have a whole different outlook on things.
"Somebody goin' to die," he tells her.
Once out on bail, Clemmons kept his promise, killing four police officers in cold blood.
Currently, Washington's constitution says a suspect is entitled to bail unless he's been charged with aggravated first degree murder.
The ballot measure would change that, giving judges the authority to deny bail to a suspect facing a life sentence for a variety of felonies if it is shown they have a "propensity for violence."
Campaigning for the constitutional amendment is Kim Renninger, the widow of slain Lakewood officer, Sgt. Mark Renninger. She says passing the measure might help keep other families from going through what she's had to.
"It's horrific and horrible, you know. It's a daily struggle to figure out what my life's supposed to be now because it was taken away from me," she said in an interview from her home.
The measure has broad public support. But Seattle University Law professor Bob Boruchowitz says voters should be cautious about taking such a drastic step as changing the state constitution, which this does.
"When there's a horrible tragedy that gets a lot of public attention there's often a relatively rash reaction," said Boruchowitz.
In this case, he says, the constitutional change wouldn't even solve the problem that resulted in Clemmons release.
The tragedy in great part was caused because the judge didn't have enough information when setting bail and under this new proposal the judge could deny bail only if he had enough information," Boruchowitz said.
He says if the judge had had more information about Clemmons, he could have set an extremely high bail or placed him on electronic home detention.
Boruchowitz says while it may not be politically popular right now, it's important to remember that our justice system is based on the idea that someone is innocent until proven guilty and the right to be released on bail while awaiting trial is part of that.
If the measure passes, it will likely face a challenge in the courts.
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