During my 10 years as a member of the Washington State House of Representatives, I continuously expressed my concern about our criminal-justice system and its contribution to mass incarceration. In particular, I questioned the value of what I considered to be excessively long sentences.
However, even I am incredulous that Andrew Richwine, whose distracted driving resulted in a fatality, received a sentence of only six months in work release. Really? This man broke the law and he killed someone. If he had been drunk, the sentence would have been much longer.
No matter what your opinion of our sentencing guidelines, laws and prisons are there to keep our communities safe. Sentences reflect a fine dance between legislators, law enforcement, judges and prosecutors. Something broke down in this case. Accident rates are on the rise, and pedestrians are all too often the victims. Distracted driving is a growing problem.
When he was killed, Cody Meyer was doing his job of keeping others safe. The message of Richwine’s sentence is that we aren’t taking seriously the crime of distracted driving. It is a killer.
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Mary Helen Roberts, Lynnwood, former state representative