Committee hears bill to let courts consider survivors' abuse histories at sentencing

House Bill 1591, the Survivors Justice Act, received testimony proposing that courts be allowed to consider a defendant's history of domestic violence, sexual assault or human trafficking when determining sentence or eligibility for resentencing if that abuse was a significant factor in the offending.

The bill’s supporters said the change would allow courts to recognize how trauma and coercion shape behavior and to provide targeted sentencing alternatives. Prosecutors’ groups and law-enforcement representatives urged narrower language and limits to prevent misuse and to preserve victims’ voices.

David Martin, who supervises the domestic violence unit in the King County Prosecutor’s Office, testified in support and described the problem this way: "I've seen first hand how trauma shapes decisions, limits options, and traps people in cycles of abuse." Martin said his office’s Survivors First diversion program, run in partnership with the YWCA, has identified and diverted people whose offending was linked to ongoing victimization. "In the Survivors First program ... we diverted, I wanna say, 240 cases last year," Martin said, adding that the state’s caseload forecast showed only one downward exceptional sentence in 2024 for crimes…