Opinion ID: 2599993
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The purpose of RCW 9.94A.533(5)

Text: ¶ 26 Besides ignoring the words of RCW 9.94A.533(5), the majority's interpretation undermines the statute's purpose and leads to absurd results. On its face, the statute's purpose is to deter people from selling, buying, using, or possessing drugs in a jail or state correctional facility. But the majority's interpretation narrows the class of offenders subject to a sentence enhancement under the statute. Because voluntary entrance into the enhancement zone is an element of RCW 9.94A.533(5), according to the majority, RCW 9.94A.533(5) will no longer apply to arrestees or prisonersall of whom are forced into jail or prison against their will. Only employees and visitors enter a jail or prison voluntarily. In Eaton's case, even if Eaton's methamphetamine had not been discovered by jail staff until several days after he was booked, RCW 9.94A.533(5) would not apply because he did not enter the Clark County Jail on his own volition. [2] That result contradicts the statute's overall purpose of reducing the number of drug crimes in jails and prisons. ¶ 27 By contrast, the plain meaning of RCW 9.94A.533(5) advances the statute's purpose in at least three ways. First, a prisoner who is already in a jail or state correctional facility would think twice before having anything to do with illegal drugs. Second, before being taken to jail, an arrestee possessing drugs would have an incentive to either get rid of the drugs or admit possession to the arresting officer. A person so admitting would be subject to a possession charge but not the enhancement. Without the 12-month enhancement, however, the arrestee is better off keeping quiet or lying. There would be a chance that the drugs would not be detected by the booking officer, and even if the arrestee's drugs are noticed eventually by the jail staff, the maximum sentence would be the same as if the drugs had been discovered outside the jail. Because the penalty for possession inside the jail would be the same as for possession outside the jail, the arrestee, in the hope of avoiding being punished altogether, would be more likely to try to sneak the drugs past the jail staff unnoticed. But with the 12-month enhancement, trying to maintain possession unnoticed is a riskier proposition, and the arrestee is much more likely to try to get rid of the drugs or admit to their presence, making the presence of drugs in jail less likely. Third and finally, a nonincarcerated person who might otherwise consider possessing drugs would be less likely to commit possession in the first instance, because there is always the risk of being arrested and booked into jail.