“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.”

(Editorial, ​“End cost­ly lim­bo and repeal the death penal­ty,” The Seattle Times, May 21, 2017.) See Editorials and Recent Legislative Activity.

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