Citing ​“seri­ous con­cerns about the use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the state of Washington,” Governor Jay Inslee (pic­tured) grant­ed a reprieve to Clark Richard Elmore, whom the state’s Department of Corrections had sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on January 19, 2017, and urged the state leg­is­la­ture to abol­ish cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the state. The December 29, 2016 war­rant of reprieve was the first reprieve order issued under a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions that the gov­er­nor announced in 2014. The war­rant pre­vents Washington from exe­cut­ing Elmore unless and until the reprieve is lift­ed by Inslee or a future gov­er­nor, but it does not reduce Elmore’s sen­tence. The Governor’s office said Inslee spoke with the victim’s fam­i­ly, ​“who expressed a pref­er­ence to see Elmore serve life in prison,” before issu­ing the reprieve. The war­rant of reprieve reit­er­ates sev­er­al of the con­cerns about the death penal­ty that led Gov. Inslee to impose the mora­to­ri­um in the first place, includ­ing “[u]nequal appli­ca­tion across the state, lack of clear deter­rent val­ue, high fre­quen­cy of sen­tence rever­sal on appeal, and ris­ing costs.” It states: ​“The State’s two most impor­tant respon­si­bil­i­ties in address­ing crim­i­nal jus­tice issues are to pro­tect the pub­lic and to ensure equal jus­tice under the law, and I do not believe the use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment effec­tive­ly sat­is­fies these respon­si­bil­i­ties.” In a sep­a­rate state­ment to the media, the gov­er­nor’s office said the state’s mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions was based on sys­temic con­cerns and ​“isn’t about indi­vid­ual cas­es.” Because of those con­cerns, the state­ment said, “[t]he gov­er­nor urges the state leg­is­la­ture to end the death penal­ty once and for all.” Nine men are cur­rent­ly on death row in Washington, and the state’s last exe­cu­tion was in 2010.

(D. Oxley, ​“Gov. Inslee halts exe­cu­tion for Whatcom mur­der­er Clark Elmore,” MyNorthwest​.com, December 30, 2016; J. O’Sullivan, ​“Washington Gov. Jay Inslee qui­et­ly spares killer with first death-row reprieve,” The Seattle Times, December 30, 2016.) Read the Warrant of Reprieve for Clark Richard Elmore.

Citation Guide