Washington state passes bill to abolish death penalty

On April 22, RT reported that the US state of Washington passed a law abolishing the death penalty, officially legalizing a law previously passed by the state Supreme Court.

The act also includes other criminal justice reforms, including a ban on sterilization as a punishment for crimes.

Governor Jay Inslee signed the bill into law on April 20 (local time), making Washington the 23rd state in the US to abolish the death penalty. The bill also includes the removal of all death penalty-related documents from the state's criminal code.

US state of Washington passes law abolishing death penalty - 1 — Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill abolishing the death penalty in the state on April 20. (Photo: Twitter/Jay Inslee)

“I initiated legislation to abolish the death penalty in Washington state in 2014, and our rationale for that decision was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2018,” Governor Inslee said during the bill signing ceremony.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling also makes clear that the death penalty is being carried out arbitrarily and in a racially discriminatory manner,” Inslee stressed.

A bill to abolish the death penalty passed the Washington state legislature in early April despite opposition from House Republicans.

Republican Rep. Jim Walsh said the bill was “rushed” and was just a “collection of rough, technical tweaks,” not a major change to the state’s death penalty laws.

While the Washington State Supreme Court ruled against the death penalty in 2018 – finding it was disproportionately applied and used indiscriminately against people of color.

Washington state has carried out five executions since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1978. The most recent was in 2010, according to data compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).

According to DPIC, the death penalty is still legal in 27 states in the US.

Tra Khanh (Source: russian.rt.com)

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