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In 1979, the Washington State legislature passed the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (DVPA)RCW 10.99, Washington's official response to the problem of domestic violence. The law recognized domestic violence as a "serious crime and intended to provide maximum protection from abuse for victims of domestic violence." RCW 10.99.010.
The purpose of the DVPA was not to establish new crimes, but to ensure that existing statutes would be fully and equally enforced in domestic violence situations. RCW 10.99.010, and Roy v. City of Everett, 118 Wn. 2d 352, 358 (1992).
A few years later, the Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) was enacted. No sentencing changes were made for repeat domestic violence offenders or consideration given to scoring domestic violence misdemeanor convictions. The SRA followed the lead of the DVPA, domestic violence sentences were to be treated just like other crimes.
Since the enactment of the SRA in 1984, there have been multiple Legislative amendments to the SRA that specifically deal with repeat offenders for certain types of crimes. Felony domestic violence crimes have not been a part of those changes. The protection of victims and society in the domestic violence arena remains a high priority. Criminal sanctions for repeat domestic violence offenders need to change to properly reflect the danger to society, the danger to victims and more accurately the criminal conduct of repeat abusers.