Governor Jay Inslee has said he is suspending the use of the death penalty in Washington state, announcing a move that he hopes will enable officials to "join a growing national conversation about capital punishment."
Governor Jay Inslee,the first-term Democrat said he came to the decision after months of review,
meetings with family members of victims, prosecutors and law enforcement.
"There have been too many doubts raised about capital punishment, there
are too many flaws in this system today," Inslee said at a news
conference. "There is too much at stake to accept an imperfect system."
Governor Jay Inslee's moratorium, which he says will be in place for as long as he's governor, means that if a death penalty case comes to his desk, he will issue a reprieve, which isn't a pardon and doesn't commute the sentences of those condemned to death. Rather than face capital punishment, death row inmates will simply remain in prison.
Governor Jay Inslee's moratorium, which he says will be in place for as long as he's governor, means that if a death penalty case comes to his desk, he will issue a reprieve, which isn't a pardon and doesn't commute the sentences of those condemned to death. Rather than face capital punishment, death row inmates will simply remain in prison.
Note
- There have been 78 inmates, all men, put to death in Washington state since 1904.
- Nine men currently await execution at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla
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