By: Vy Tran
Date: May 27, 2024
OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last week Kimonti Carter and Shawn Reite will remain free after they were released in 2022 from their life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences.
The court in 2022 “did not err” when it ruled the sentences were “unconstitutional for their age group,” Washington Supreme Court Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis wrote in Thursday’s decision, noting the issue is whether or not the judiciary had the authority to overwrite the initial sentences with “determinate sentencing” without legislative approval.
A “determinate sentence” is a “jail or prison sentence that has a definite length and can’t be reviewed or changed by a parole board or any other agency,” Cornell Law defines. “The judge has little discretion in sentencing and must follow the sentence guidelines determined by the law.” It is crucial to note that most states currently rely on indeterminate sentences.
Advocates of determinate sentencing claim it increases “equity and predictability,” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in pleadings, adding results from collected data “found that determinate-sentenced inmates did feel they were treated more equitably in the sentencing process and were more certain of their release dates.”
Read full article from the Davis Vanguard here