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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Panel Hears Pitches On ‘Two-Strikes’

From Staff And Wire Reports

The legislative scramble to lock up two-time sex offenders for life got a workout before the House Corrections Committee, with one lawmaker proposing the death penalty as an alternative.

The death-penalty suggestion, from freshman Rep. Mike Sherstad, R-Bothell, got short shrift Friday after legal experts said the nation’s courts have generally ruled the death penalty is reserved strictly for murderers.

But other elements of “two-strikes” measures before the committee contained more subtle problems, prompting occasionally agonized testimony.

“I’m not here to be a lobbyist for sex offenders,” said Daniel T. Satterberg, chief of staff for King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, a Republican candidate for governor in this election year.

Satterberg, as has his boss, contends that including child-molesters and child-rapists under the law could actually result in far fewer prosecutions. That’s because 95 percent of such offenses occur within families or circles of close acquaintances, and the victims in such cases would be reluctant to “send daddy to prison for life,” he said.