S-4201.1
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5945
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By Senate Human Services (originally sponsored by Senators Hasegawa, C. Wilson, and Nobles)
READ FIRST TIME 01/22/26.
AN ACT Relating to modifying the definition of persistent offender to exclude convictions for offenses committed by someone under the age of 18 and providing for resentencing; amending RCW 9.94A.030 ; adding a new section to chapter 9.94A RCW; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature recognizes that in Miller v. Alabama , 567 U.S. 460 (2012), the United States supreme court affirmed that sentencing youth to mandatory life without parole for certain offenses committed under the age of 18 constitutes cruel and unusual punishment when the sentencing court does not consider youth or its attendant characteristics as a mitigating factor. The Washington state supreme court subsequently confirmed that such mandatory life without parole sentencing schemes are unconstitutional for youth, regardless of whether a court considers youth and its attendant characteristics as mitigating factors in State v. Bassett , 192 Wn.2d 67, 428 P.3d 343 (2018). These landmark decisions reflect the advancement of brain development science and a growing national and state understanding that children are fundamentally different from adults in their capacity for judgment, impulse control, and potential for rehabilitation.
The legislature finds that it established section 9, chapter 130, Laws of 2014 to comply with Miller but only applying to prospective cases, creating an injustice for a small number of individuals whose qualifying crime as a youth was committed before the implementation date of the bill.