EDITORIALS: Seattle Times Urges End to Washington's "Zombie" Death Penalty

“The death penalty in Washington is like a zombie, not alive or dead, yet continuing to eat its way through precious resources in the criminal-justice system,” The Seattle Times editorial board declared on May 21, urging the state legislature to end capital punishment. Washington currently has a moratorium on executions, imposed by Governor Jay Inslee in 2014, leading the Times to declare the practice “effectively dead.” But because death sentences can still be imposed, and appeals continue for the eight men on death row, capital punishment is “still alive on the books.” The editorial says this “limbo…gives no peace to victims’ families.” It also leaves prosecutors to decide whether to continue seeking the death penalty, which they have done less often in recent years, “perhaps influenced by the legal uncertainty, the apparent reluctance of some juries and the extra $1 million or more that a death-penalty sentence adds to a murder case.” The editorial calls the death penalty, “overly expensive, ineffective and immoral,” joining current and former Attorneys General in asking the legislature to take up a repeal bill. The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee has agreed to hold a hearing on an abolition bill if the House takes action first. Attorney General Bob Ferguson believes a House vote may uncover hidden support for repeal: “You don’t know that reaction if you don’t take a vote,” he said. The Seattle Times agrees: “The public wants bold leadership on important issues. A path to repeal is through the Legislature, either this year or next — if they have the courage to act.”