Benton's Chelsea Harrison Act receives a unanimous vote of the Senate

February 15, 2008

OLYMPIA…In a unanimous vote, the Senate tonight approved a bill by Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, to close a loophole in the state’s “Three Strikes You’re Out” law.  

The measure, Substitute Senate Bill 6184, to be known as the Chelsea Harrison Act, would make an out-of-state felony conviction with a finding of sexual motivation a “strike” if the minimum sentence imposed was 10 years or more. 

“The Senate has passed this measure twice as amendments to other crime bills, but the amendments got stripped off in the House of Representatives,” Benton said. “This year I have assurances from the chair of the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee that my bill will get a hearing and will move out of committee.” 

Benton also has the full weight of the Senate behind his bill this year. His prime sponsorship is backed by the signatures of 46 other senators as co-sponsors.  

In 1999, a man who had previously been sent to prison for life under Washington’s “Three Strikes You’re Out” law, got out on appeal because one of his crimes was committed in Arizona and didn’t exactly match the criteria under Washington’s law. After he was released from custody, he murdered a young Clark County girl named Chelsea Harrison.  

“I have worked very hard to get this bill passed since 2006 because that loophole is why Chelsea Harrison’s murderer was out of prison,” Benton said. “He should have been serving a life term, not out taking the life of a child.” 

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Additional Contact: Penny Drost (360) 786-7522 or drost.penny@leg.wa.gov