Washington state is a national leader in embracing the crime reform known as “swift and certain,” based on a pilot project in Hawaii where parolees were 50 percent less likely to be arrested for a new crime and 70 percent less likely to abuse drugs.
Washington took that idea and adopted it statewide.
The old system in Hawaii was overwhelmed, and probation officers would let 10 or 15 probation violations slide before they recommended to a judge that the violator go to prison.
Swift and certain works because offenders don’t get in the habit of violating conditions again and again before getting punished.
The drunk driving law signed by Gov. Jay Inslee this week uses a similar idea. Instead of relying on the deterrence of big jail sentences, ignition interlocks will get installed in their cars, alcoholics will get treatment – and violations will be dealt with swiftly and certainly.
The same idea is being used in Massachusetts when it comes to domestic violence: they’re using the swift-and-certain approach with domestic violence offenders they think have the highest risk of escalating to murder.
Here’s how slate.com explained the Massachusetts program:
The system works in no small part because it turns the logic of an abusive relationship on its head. The abuser works by making the victim feel like she will never be free of him, his violence, and his surveillance. If she tries to leave, he escalates. If she gets a new boyfriend, he escalates. The idea is to make her feel like her choices are to submit or to live in terror.
The high-risk teams shift the burden of being surveilled from the victim to the abuser. Now, if he makes a threat, Massachusetts has the power to escalate. If he uses visitation time to attack her or her children, Massachusetts restricts visitation. Now he’s the one who has to make his decisions with the understanding that someone with power can further restrict his movements and his ability to live freely.
- About one of every six adult women in Washington has been a victim of one or more completed forcible rapes during their lifetime.
- One in five Washington women reports being injured by domestic violence sometime in her lifetime.
- An estimated 10% – 20% of emergency department visits by women with intimate partners are a result of domestic violence.
- At least 30 percent of all female homicide victims in Washington State are killed by a current or former intimate partner.
The ideas being used in Hawaii, Washington and Massachusetts for community supervision, domestic violence and drunk driving are in line with social scientists who say a small punishment – as long as it’s fast and guaranteed — is more effective than a big punishment people think is unlikely to happen.