Periodic review of 'three-strikes' law is prudent

These editorials appear in the Yakima Herald-Republic on Dec. 26, 2008.

Washington voters approved the nation's first "three strikes" law in 1993, which meant that people thrice convicted of certain serious crimes would be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Voters were fed up with rampant crime and demanded that the state make sure habitual offenders were taken out of society.

Yakima County prosecutors had sought a three-strikes conviction for Jorge "Spooky" Saenz, 23, but were turned down. Although Saenz was recently convicted of his third serious assault felony, this time for shooting a 14-year-old gang rival in the back, Yakima County Superior Court Judge Michael Schwab had taken the three-strikes law off the table because he was troubled by due-process issues in a Lewis County conviction. Saenz was 15, but prosecuted as an adult in that case.

Fortunately, Schwab did not back away from handing down a stiff sentence for Saenz. He was sentenced to 561 months -- nearly 47 years.

This may have been a better outcome to stave off costly appeals. The one-size-fits-all nature of the three-strikes law has to be closely monitored, and rightfully should be challenged if there are legitimate concerns.

Still, the seriousness of the crime would seemingly justify the 47-year sentence, especially when considering his pattern of violent crimes. Authorities say Saenz had opened fire from a car as two teenagers walked across a parking lot in Sunnyside. A 14-year-old was seriously injured by a .40-caliber round that remains lodged in his back. Add that to his earlier convictions -- a gang-related stabbing at age 18 and for instigating a riot while in custody in Lewis County at age 15 -- and while a technicality may have spared him from life in prison, he's still dancing around the edge of such serious incarceration.

Someone who would callously shoot at children -- even those mixed up in gangs -- is the kind of person we don't want out on the street.

Saenz narrowly escaped a life sentence, even though he could qualify as a poster child for three strikes, absent the technicality about being a minor for one serious crime and barely a legal adult for the other. Now is the time for him decide whether he will change his life for the better while behind bars and earn the right to re-enter society, even if it is as an old man.

In the meantime, three strikes is a concept that still needs periodic review by the Legislature to make sure it is judiciously applied, and with discretion when warranted. While we want the really bad apples behind bars, the automatic lifer aspect is not to be taken lightly.

Locals' involvement pays dividends in YWCA move

Even in this season of giving and sharing, we're constantly amazed at how this community steps up to meeting the challenges for those in need.

A recent example: The YWCA of Yakima is moving to new downtown quarters nine months ahead of schedule. As we reported earlier, since late 2006, some 200 local residents and businesses pledged $2.5 million and another $500,000 endowment paid for a centrally located facility.

YWCA officials credit an outpouring of community support for speeding up the fundraising campaign to remodel the former Yakima Manor assisted-living facility and Convalescent Care nursing home at Ninth and Yakima avenues. The new facilities will provide shelter for 44 women and children each night and feature video surveillance cameras and a 24-hour, on-site staff as part of increased security.

The YWCA has always played an important role in this community. Thanks to the generosity of people and businesses who care, that role has been both expanded and upgraded with this move.

Kudos to all those who helped make it happen.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Barbara Serrano, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.