Ferguson File - April 2023

Every day my team and I work to improve the lives of Washingtonians both through litigation, policy work, and legislation. We take on big challenges — we never give up.
We accomplished the following victories during the month of April:

• We won a major legal victory in federal court in Spokane in our case to protect and expand access for abortion medication. Our victory is helping to protect access to mifepristone for Washingtonians and every resident of the 18-state coalition that we’re leading. More information here:  https://www.msnbc.com/american-voices/watch/amid-texas-ruling-washington-state-judge-orders-fda-to-keep-abortion-pill-access-168863813671

• We passed a ban on the sale of assault weapons. Every agency head can draft and propose what’s called “agency request legislation” in Washington. I’ve been proposing legislation to ban the sale of assault weapons for seven years — ever since a mass shooting with an AR-15 claimed the lives of three young people in Mukilteo. This year we got it done. That’s not all: we also passed my bill that holds gun manufacturers and distributors accountable if their irresponsible and illegal conduct harms Washingtonians.

• We passed the My Health, My Data Act. Washington now has the strongest privacy protections for personal health data in the country. More information here.

• I’m creating a Cold Case Unit focused on solving crimes involving Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People. I appreciate the partnership of Representative Debra Lekanoff and the MMIWP Task Force. More information here.

• I’m creating a specialized Unit of prosecutors, investigators, and a data analyst focused on Organized Retail Crimes. These sophisticated, multijurisdictional crimes endanger workers and customers, damage our economy, and cost all of us. More information here.

• We passed our legislation to combat illegal robocalls. Proposing this law is part of my anti-robocalling initiative. I appreciate the partnership of Representative Mari Leavitt, the AARP and others. I’m going to start enforcing these new protections as soon as they go into effect.

• We abolished the death penalty from our legal code. For seven years, I proposed legislation to repeal the death penalty in Washington. Five years ago the state Supreme Court ruled that Washington’s death penalty was applied in a racially biased and unconstitutional manner. This year we got it done.

 
 
We will continue to seek justice and protect the health and safety of all the people in Washington State.

Bob Ferguson
Washington State Attorney General