2009 Legislative Priority Issues

Major priority: Opposing Expansion of Liability for Wrongful Death, Supporting Seatbelts

Unfortunately, the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association has confirmed that they will again pursue passage of a proposal that will increase public entities’ liability in wrongful death cases.

Last year, HB 1873 was introduced by Rep. Timm Ormsby (D-Spokane) and would have substantially expanded the scope of liability in wrongful injury or death causes of action by increasing the number of people who may file a cause of action, and the damages for which they could seek redress. AWC was joined by many other local government association groups to oppose the bill, which ultimately died on the final day of the 60 day session.

In 2008, the AWC Risk Management Services Agency estimated this to be an additional $2 million per claim. This figure was consistent with estimates from other risk pools and the state Attorney General. These are costs that would be passed along to members of risk pools and state agencies. Given the significant budgetary pressures faced by the state and local governments, we hope to defeat this expansion of liability again. Opposing this effort was identified as one of AWC’s "major priorities" for 2009.

Also included in tort-related issues was direction from the AWC Board to pursue passage of legislation that allows juries to know if a person involved in an injury accident was wearing his or her seatbelt. Current law provides for fault-free plaintiffs to recover from all defendants through joint liability. Under this law, if a city is 10% liable in an auto accident, for example, it could be required to pay all the damages if the tortfeasor had insufficient insurance to fully satisfy the award. However, if the jury could be informed that a person was not wearing his or her seatbelt, the plaintiff would not be fault-free, and the city would only be required to cover their proportional share of damages. We will work with other interested stakeholders to make this change.

There are many other issues of interest to cities that will be pursued in the Law and Justice arena. A few of the major ones include:

Mitigating medical costs for offenders – specifically removal of the two-year sunset provision in section 66 of SSB 5930, which clarifies the charging entity is responsible for offender medical costs; pursuing state funding to assist local jurisdictions to pay for offender medical costs; and, seeking assistance with mental health costs to reduce impacts on the criminal justice system.
Seeking reimbursement from the state – for additional public defender costs if they change the definition of a felony and force more cases into municipal court; seeking reimbursement from the county if they refuse to file charges in a felony case and refer to the city.
Allowing jails to "medically assist" inmates – when delivering Prescription Drugs. AWC will support a change in state law that allows jail personnel to assist inmates when they administer prescribed medication, and support distinguishing between large and small facilities for regulatory purposes.

Communities Organize to Oppose Gang Violence in Grandview

Citizens frustrated with a recent rash of gang violence in their community, united very quickly to organize a march against gang violence. "Taking the public energy surrounding this volatile subject and turning it into something positive is our ongoing mission," said Brad Smith, one of the local citizen group’s coordinators. That energy manifested itself into over 300 marchers joining in the peaceful demonstration march and rally on October 25. Marchers included families, concerned citizens, legislators, city council members, county commissioners, school administrators, police, and social service agencies and surprisingly, even known gang members and their families.

A partnership with another similarly focused group in the valley, Yakima Valley Barrios Unidos, was a perfect match for the local effort. Barrios Unidos is part of a national coalition of Barrios Unidos (communities united) and affiliated with the Diocese of Yakima. They have a specific focus with youth who are trying to resist the influences of gang activity.

The idea for the march was inspired by a peaceful "sit in" event coordinated by students at Grandview High School following a shooting across the street from the school during a football game. The march idea spawned conversations that led to expanding the march to include a neighboring city also plagued by gang activity and evolved to having marchers converge at a park located between them.

Local musicians and speakers were lined up to participate at the rally point between the two cities. The goal of the rally was to unite the two communities in a common action against gang violence and its influences. It led to the next step for Grandview United, developing intervention strategies for their community. Community focus groups are scheduled for early January 2009 as the group seeks to increase participation in their efforts to identify viable, youth driven intervention options for those at risk in the community.

More information is located at www.grandviewunited.org, including resource and media links.

Criminal Justice Summit Meetings

In October, the Washington State Bar requested the state’s three law schools convene a group of people representing a broad range of interests in the criminal justice system. AWC was invited to attend. The group’s overriding concern centered around the expected impact of the state and local budget deficits on the criminal justice system. How could we work together to protect the integrity of the system when state and local funding is threatened? Are their system changes that might result in efficiencies, without undermining the system?

With these questions in mind, the group looked at shortening sentences by having more inmates serve their time on home detention, raising the felony property theft limits, and other methods for reducing caseload levels in district and municipal courts. Between thirty and forty percent of all cases are Driving While License Suspended, 3rd degree (DWLS3). These are often the result of a traffic ticket that goes unpaid, resulting in a license suspension.

If the person is caught driving with a suspended license, the prosecutor may charge them with a DWLS3 – a misdemeanor offense which includes large fines and potentially jail time. Some argue that without the threat of jail time, fewer people would pay their traffic tickets. In fact, the charge of DWLS3 was changed in the late 1970s to an additional fine rather than jail time resulting in fewer paid traffic tickets. The need to reduce the court caseload of DWLS3 is high on the list to address. Current thinking is to develop or perhaps require courts to offer a relicensing or diversion program to assist people in getting their licenses back and paying their fines rather than sending them to jail.

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