In the News

Washington state Senator Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond) has been named chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee. “I’m honored to have the trust of my colleagues to lead our efforts to ensure the effective and equitable administration of justice in our state’s court system,” said Dhingra, who previously served as vice ...

Following a rise in domestic violence rates during the course of the pandemic, Sen. Manka Dhingra and others spoke at a town hall Wednesday, Nov. 3, highlighting new state legislation which is making it easier for survivors to seek protections from their abusers. “We wanted to make sure that we were ...

Washington House Speaker Laurie Jinkins believes Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer should resign, rather than ride the wave of a legislative debate on whether new police accountability laws apply to him. Troyer was criminally charged with lying three months after a new law took hold giving the state Criminal Justice Commission ...

A bill that passed in the Washington State Legislature is aimed at simplifying the protection order petition process for victims of domestic violence, but while some barriers were addressed by the law, some advocates against domestic violence say that many still exist. Sen. Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond), who sponsored the companion bill ...

Sen. Manka Dhingra (D-45th) chairs the Senate Behavioral Health Subcommittee, serves as vice chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, and sits on the Ways and Means Committee. During her time in the legislature, Sen. Dhingra has advocated for behavioral health bills, support for domestic violence survivors, and for ...

A dozen bills that would reform the way police are trained in Washington state are under consideration by lawmakers. Kris Van Cleave visited the state's Criminal Justice Training Center to see how that new training is encouraging officers to slow down and take a step back.

OLYMPIA — The Washington Legislature on Tuesday passed a bill to require law enforcement officers to intervene if they witness another officer using excessive force in an encounter. Senate Bill 5066 is one of a slew of proposals designed to reshape police tactics and oversight of law enforcement in the wake ...

After years of trying, Washington legislators appear poised to free up doctors at Catholic hospitals to provide medically necessary abortions when pregnancies go wrong. The legislation would allow patients to sue a hospital if they are denied medical care to hasten miscarriages or terminate nonviable pregnancies that threaten the patients’ health. ...

Lawmakers in Olympia are scrambling to respond to a Washington Supreme Court decision that declared the state’s law criminalizing drug possession unconstitutional because it did not require prosecutors to prove intent. Dueling proposals reflect the range of philosophical beliefs about how the state should respond to drug possession and use — ...