Benton's Chelsea Harrison Act gets House committee OK after public hearing

February 20, 2008

OLYMPIA…In an unusually quick move, the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee today heard and moved out a bill by Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, to close a loophole in the state’s “Three Strikes You’re Out” law.  

“I am very grateful and encouraged by the committee’s willingness to give a ‘do pass’ recommendation to my bill on our first day back in committees,” Benton said.  

Benton introduced Substitute Senate Bill 6184 because of the murder of a young Clark County girl 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 Chelsea Harrison.

 SSB 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. 

On Feb. 15, the Senate unanimously approved the Chelsea Harrison Act. The bill is co-sponsored by 46 of Benton’s colleagues. 

“I have pushed very hard to fix this loophole because it led to the violent death of a child. That’s pretty powerful motivation,” Benton said.  

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