Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced on February 11 that he would issue a reprieve for any death penal­ty case that reach­es his desk. He said he does not intend to com­mute the sen­tences of the nine men on the state’s death row, but his action will ensure that no exe­cu­tions occur while he is gov­er­nor. In his press con­fer­ence announc­ing the deci­sion, Inslee said, ​“Equal jus­tice under the law is the state’s pri­ma­ry respon­si­bil­i­ty. And in death 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.” He also cit­ed the death penal­ty’s lack of deter­rent effect and said that it is unnec­es­sary when the state has the sen­tenc­ing option of life with­out parole. His deci­sion to insti­tute a mora­to­ri­um came after dis­cus­sions with vic­tims’ fam­i­ly mem­bers, pros­e­cu­tors, and law enforce­ment offi­cials. The gov­er­nor said he hoped his action will prompt a deep­er dis­cus­sion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the state.

Governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon took sim­i­lar action in November, 2011, say­ing that he would not allow any exe­cu­tions dur­ing his term. In Colorado in 2013, Governor John Hickenlooper grant­ed a reprieve in an upcom­ing exe­cu­tion, imply­ing that his con­cerns with the death penal­ty applied to all cases.

(R. La Corte, ​“Washington gov­er­nor sus­pends death penal­ty,” Associated Press, February 11, 2014.) Read the Governor’s remarks. See New Voices and Death Penalty in Flux.

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