The member organizations of Smart Justice Spokane and the SCAR Platform for Change coalitions asked all candidates in Spokane County to respond to 20 questions about racial justice, policing, housing, incarceration, services, and community, so that we could share their responses with Spokane County voters.

Spokane County Commissioner candidates

• County Commissioner District 1 candidate: Chris Jordan – responses here (PDF)
• County Commissioner District 1 candidate: Kim Please – no response

• County Commissioner District 2 candidate: Michael Cathcart – no response
• County Commissioner District 2 candidate: Amber Waldref – responses here (PDF)

• County Commissioner District 5 candidate: Al French – no response
• County Commissioner District 5 candidate: Maggie Yates – responses here (PDF)

No response from other candidates for County Commissioner positions: Josh Kerns, Mary Kuney, Paul Brian Noble, Wild Bill Schreiner

Spokane County Prosecutor candidates

• Spokane County Prosecutor candidate: Deb Conklin – responses here (PDF)
• Spokane County Prosecutor candidate: Larry Haskell – no response

Spokane County District Court Judge candidates

• District Court Judge Position 6: Andrew Biviano – responses here (PDF)
• District Court Judge Position 6: Deanna Crull – no response

No response from Judge candidates for other District Court positions: Patricia Connolly Walker, Eric Dooyema, Jennifer Fassbender, Patrick Johnson, Richard M. Leland, Aimee Maurer, Jeffrey Smith, Jenny Zappone

State Representative candidates

• Legislative District 3, Position 1: Scotty Nicol – no response
• Legislative District 3, Position 1: Marcus Riccelli – responses here (PDF)

• Legislative District 3, Position 2: Tim Ormsby – responses here (PDF)
• Legislative District 3, Position 2: Natalie Poulson – no response

• Legislative District 4, Position 1: Ted Cummings – responses here (PDF)
• Legislative District 4, Position 1: Suzanne Schmidt – no response

• Legislative District 6, Position 2: Jenny Graham – no response
• Legislative District 6, Position 2: Michaela Kelso – responses here (PDF)

• Legislative District 7, Position 1: Jacquelin Maycumber – no response
• Legislative District 7, Position 1: Lonny Ray Williams – responses here (PDF)

No response from other candidates for Legislative Districts: Rob Chase, Leonard Christian, Mary Dye, Joel Kretz, Mike Volz, Joe Schmick

State Senator candidates

• Legislative District 6: Jeff Holy – no response
• Legislative District 7: Shelly Short – no response

Spokane County Sheriff candidates

• Sheriff candidate: Wade Nelson – no response
• Sheriff candidate: John Nowels – no response

Our thanks to those who responded.

Smart Justice Spokane

Smart Justice Spokane is a broad coalition of over 30 organizations working together to end mass incarceration and eliminate racial disparities in our local criminal justice system. We organize and mobilize together for effective, restorative solutions that are driven by the experiences and needs of those impacted by the criminal justice system. The recovery and integration of those caught up in the criminal justice process is essential for a strong, healthy, and just community.

Learn more and connect with SJS member organizations:

ACLU of Washington · All Saints Lutheran Church · Carl Maxey Center · Chihak & Associates – Disability Attorneys · Disability Rights Washington · Community Building Foundation · Community-Minded Enterprises · Freedom Project East · Fuse Washington · Fulcrum Institute Dispute Resolution Clinic · Greater Spokane Progress · I Did The Time / Revive Center for Returning Citizens · KYRS Thin Air Community Radio · League of Women Voters Spokane Area · Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center · NAMI Spokane – National Alliance on Mental Illness · Neighborhood Alliance of Spokane · Northwest Fair Housing Alliance · Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane · River Warrior Society · SEIU Healthcare 775 NW · Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund · Spokane Branch Unit 1137 NAACP · Spokane Community Against Racism · Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium · Spokane Tribe of Indians · Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane · University Legal Assistance, Gonzaga Law School · Washington Community Action Network · Washington Education Association, Eastern Washington · Washington State Council of City & County Employees – Local 270 AFSCME

Spokane Community Against Racism

Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) Platform for Change is a coalition advancing a vision of systemic change for the Spokane community that embraces a holistic vision of public safety. This vision reexamines what is considered crime, accounts for its root causes, and recognizes that shared prosperity and community care are at the heart of a healthy society.

Learn more and connect with Platform for Change coalition member organizations:

Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) ◾ APIC Spokane ◾ Eastern Washington Progressives ◾ Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience ◾ FUSE Washington ◾ Greater Spokane Progress ◾ Hispanic Business/Professional Association ◾ Human Rights Activist Coterie of Spokane (HRAC) ◾ Latinos en Spokane ◾ MAC Movement ◾ Muslims for Community Action and Support ◾ Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS) ◾ Planned Parenthood Advocates of Greater Washington and North Idaho ◾ Progressives of Spokane County◾Raiz of Planned Parenthood ◾ Red Skirt Society ◾ SHAWL Society◾Smart Justice Spokane◾Spectrum Center Spokane ◾ Spokane Alliance ◾ Spokane Ministers’ Fellowship ◾ Tenants Union of Washington State

Right now, County Prosecutor Larry Haskell, Commissioner Al French, and a few other politicians are proposing to dissolve the 23-member Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council (SRLJC) and to replace it with a smaller Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee of 13 positions, currently all held by white men. This eliminates four community member seats as well as many elected and agency representatives.

The proposal also eliminates all committees including the Racial Equity Committee, replacing it with a Community Participation Committee that is both smaller and that waters down the voices of community members disproportionately impacted by our criminal justice system.

This proposal seeks to consolidate power in the hands of just a few. It insulates white officials from people of color. It reduces communication among those who are directly responsible. It diminishes the voice of the community at large, and it especially muffles the voices of communities of color who continue to suffer unfairly.

We need everyday people to make their voices heard! Click here to send your message to Spokane County Commissioners French, Kerns, and Kuney, the rest of the current SRLJC members, and city council members of Spokane Valley and the City of Spokane. The key decision makers are the County Commissioners, but it matters to make our voices heard to everyone listed because it affects our entire county and we want them to oppose the proposal. 

Spokane – A recent poll from Change Research shows Spokane County voters strongly prefer investing in social services and treatment instead of a proposed 1,200-bed jail.

The poll, which was conducted in December on behalf of the Smart Justice Spokane coalition, found that 58% of respondents support increasing the sales tax by 0.2% to fund solutions like affordable housing, mental health and substance use treatment, job training and after school programs to reduce the jail population. In contrast, only 40% support increasing the sales tax by the same amount to fund a new 1,200 bed jail. 

“This poll shows that a big new jail is dead on arrival with voters in Spokane, and that the Spokane County Commission should invest in alternatives to jail instead,” said Jim Dawson, the Spokane-based Program Director at Fuse Washington and a member of Smart Justice Spokane. 

“What people need to turn their lives around is access to safe housing, treatment, and job training.  Everyone deserves these basic human dignities and it’s the way we can reduce crime and address the racial disparities in our criminal justice system. It worked for me and the people we serve at Revive,”  said Kurtis Robinson, Executive Director, Of I Did the Time and Revive Center for Returning Citizens, a peer based reentry service provider for formerly incarcerated community members,  and a member of the Smart Justice Spokane Executive Committee. 

Read more

Smart Justice Spokane, ACLU Washington, Columbia Legal Services, Disability Rights WA, The Bail Project and others sent a formal request to Spokane City Officials requesting the following:

Immediate Releases are Necessary to Prevent Uncontrollable Outbreak at SCJ

1. Release without bond any individual being held on a low bond;
2. Release without bond any individual over the age of 60 years, and anyone with a serious medical condition (e.g., heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, or immunocompromised)
3. Enact an immediate prohibition on arresting or jailing individuals for failure to appear (FTA), legal financial obligations (LFO), or contempt of court matters;
4. Enact an immediate prohibition on the imposition of bail for any but the most serious violent felonies;
5. Immediately quash all warrants in all cases but the most serious violent felonies; and
6. Prohibit jailing on drug charges or other low-level offenses.

Read more

By Robert E. Rubin

Published in The New York Times on June 3, 2016

Excerpt:

“For our economy to succeed, we need to equip every American to be effective in the national work force. But the more than 600,000 people who leave prison every year are not getting the support they need. That fails them and fails the economy for all of us.”

Read More:  The Smart Way to Help Ex-Convicts, and Society

By Greg Berman and Julian Alder

Published on The Crime Report on May 24, 2016

Excerpt:

“Experience teaches us that reforming the justice system is both an art and a science. If we are to do this right, we need to be nerds. We need to be clear thinkers who look at data and consult the latest social science and statistical techniques. …  And we need to be patient: It took us years to get into this mess, and we should expect that it will take us years to get out of it.

But we are optimistic that by marrying good ideas to careful implementation, it is possible to change the culture of local justice systems, and help them become fairer, more effective, and more humane.”

Read More:  Art, Science and the Challenge of Justice Reform

By Kip Hill

Published in The Spokesman Review on April 13, 2016

Excerpt:

“Spokane County’s efforts to reduce overcrowding and racial disparities at its aging jail have earned an additional investment of $1.75 million from the MacArthur Foundation.

Jacqueline van Wormer, the county’s criminal justice administrator, announced the decision Wednesday afternoon.

‘I think we can spend the day sort of celebrating,’ van Wormer said in an interview before the meeting. ‘But then the really hard work begins.’”

Read More:  Spokane County Jail receives an additional $1.75 million from MacArthur Foundation to reduce overcrowding