Washington Gov. Suspends Death Penalty

nhboy

Ubi bene ibi patria
Link to original article.

"OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday he was 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."

The Democrat said he came to the decision after months of review, meetings with family members of victims, prosecutors and law enforcement.

According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press, Inslee said that the use of the death penalty is inconsistent and unequal.

"Equal justice under the law is the state's primary responsibility," he said in the written statement. "And indeath penalty cases, I'm not convinced equal justice is being served. The use of the death penalty in this state is unequally applied, sometimes dependent on the budget of the county where the crime occurred."

The governor's staff briefed lawmakers about the move on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Inslee's moratorium 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.

Last year, Maryland abolished the death penalty, the 18th state to do so and the sixth in the last six years. "
 

Rommey

Well-Known Member
Last year, Maryland abolished the death penalty, the 18th state to do so and the sixth in the last six years. "
BFD...it's not like they had used it much in the last 40 years...it was de facto abolished.
 

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
Somehow I do not think he spent too much time speaking with the victims families.
If he did he didn't listen to them.

Yes. The death penalty is inconsistent.

The same death penalty is used whether the perpetrator killed 6 people or just one.
Some are executed for merely killing their victim/or victims and others for dismemberment.
Some for rape and murder and others for killing a police officer but not raping him.

Yep Pretty inconsistent.

I believe the Governor should be honest, He hasn't the courage to make the hard decisions so he just made it easy on himself. One less thing not to worry about.
There are a lot of Governors with no courage, One is in Annapolis.
 

GW8345

Not White House Approved
Wait, if he suspended the death penalty does that mean he outlawed abortion?

After all, that is a death penalty also.

Funny how liberals care about the life of a convicted killer but don't care about the life of an innocent baby.
 

MarieB

New Member
I don't even know why he made this announcement at this point, and it makes me wonder what the voters think. It is mostly symbolic anyway, because the precedent had already been set with Gary Ridgway.
 

Vince

......
So convicted murderers get to sit in a nice jail and suck up taxpayer dollars for the rest of their lives. How is this a good thing?
 
Top