To the youth incarcerated at Green Hill, community justice advocates, and our constituents:
Yesterday, the House failed to move forward on critical juvenile justice legislation (SB 5296). For the young people trapped in a system that prioritizes incarceration over rehabilitation, this is more than a missed opportunity — it’s a moral failure.
We are devastated by the collective inaction on an issue that directly impacts the safety, health, and future of vulnerable young people. By not taking meaningful steps to address the crisis of youth incarceration, we have turned away from solutions grounded in care, equity, and common sense. We made the wrong choice — not just politically, but in our duty to do what is right.
We have members who have spent time visiting Green Hill. We’ve listened to the youth who are confined there. We’ve heard from the staff who show up every day in overcrowded, under-resourced conditions. What we’ve seen is not justice.
Young people — especially Black, Brown, and Native youth in shockingly disproportionate numbers — are locked up for too long, in environments that isolate rather than support them. Sentenced nearly four times more often than their white peers, these youth are held in cells for up to 22 hours a day, with limited access to programming or even basic necessities like regular bathroom access. These aren’t abstract policy concerns. They are urgent and they are real.
We know what works. Keeping young people close to their families, schools, and communities leads to better outcomes. When judges have discretion to look at the whole child — not just the crime — we open doors to appropriate accountability, treatment, supervision, and healing. That’s what the path forward must reflect.
This inaction contradicts our core values. Racial equity and investment in our most marginalized communities aren’t optional. They are fundamental. And yet, yesterday, we did not uphold those values.
But this is not the end.
During the interim, we are committed to building out a robust and forward-looking juvenile justice framework envisioned by SB 5296/HB 1322. We will strengthen the policies and investments needed to prioritize rehabilitation, reduce racial disparities, and center the full humanity of every young person in our system.
We are committed not only to our youth, but to the future in which we claim to believe.
There are not many things that separate us from the young people in juvenile rehabilitation facilities. What brought us to Olympia — opportunity, community, and someone who believed in our potential — should be the same for them. Every child deserves that chance.
Let’s lead with equity. Let’s choose healing and transformation over incarceration. Let’s choose our youth.
In service,
