On Thursday, Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat signed a bill into law abolishing the punishment of the death penalty in Washington State.
Death Penalty in Washington State Abolish
On Thursday, the death penalty in Washington State was eliminated as punishment after Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill into law abolishing the death penalty.
The Democratic Governor stated during the bill signing that he started the moratorium against the death penalty in Washington State in 2014. The Supreme Court approved their rationale in 2018 and ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. He added that it is clear that the death penalty in Washington as a penalty sanctioned by law was applied unevenly and inconsistently.
Advocates of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Chapter praised the elimination of the death penalty in Washington as punishment. On the contrary, the Republicans criticized the bill. Rep. Jim Walsh stated that the bill was a sad example of the interests of criminals placed ahead of the interests of victims.
The death penalty in Washington State is Applied unevenly
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there were five executions of the death penalty in Washington after the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Yet studies have recommended that race has a significant role when a judge’s decision regarding sentencing a defendant to death. University of Washington report regarding the death penalty in Washington way back in 2014 found that judges sentence the death penalty more than four times if the defendant is black.