Washington Supreme Court rules 'arbitrary and racially biased' death penalty unconstitutional
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In a unanimous decision Thursday, the Washington state Supreme Court ruled the state’s death penalty unconstitutional because it “is administered in an arbitrary and racially biased manner” in the words of Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst, who wrote the couWashington Supreme Court rules 'arbitrary and racially biased' death penalty unconstitutional
In a unanimous decision Thursday, the Washington state Supreme Court ruled the state’s death penalty unconstitutional because it “is administered in an arbitrary and racially biased manner” in the words of Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst, who wrote the court’s opinion. The eight inmates on death row in Washington will have their sentences converted to life imprisonment. The decision adds the Evergreen State to the roster of 19 other states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that have no capital punishment. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2014 on the same grounds as the court ruled, said of the decision: “Today’s decision by the state Supreme Court thankfully ends the death penalty in Washington. The court makes it perfectly clear that capital punishment in our state has been imposed in an ‘arbitrary and racially biased manner,’ is ‘unequally applied’ and serves no criminal justice goal. This is a hugely important moment in our pursuit for equal and fair application of justice.” The case involved Allen Eugene Gregory. He was convicted of aggravated first degree murder and sentenced to death in 2001. As part of his appeal, Gregory’s lawyers commissioned a study on the effect of race and county on sentences of death in Washington. It found variances county by county and discovered that African Americans were four-and-a-half times more likely to be sentenced to death as white defendants convicted of similar crimes under similar circumstances. The Washington ruling is welcome, indeed. But, even though the numbers of U.S. executions have fallen sharply in the past two decades, the racist, classist death penalty remains on the books in 30 states and under federal law. Eighteenth century pickpockets used to prowl the swarms of Englishfolk who turned out for public executions of ... pickpockets. As spectacle, the gallows gave street vendors and street thieves a lucrative venue with which to earn their bread. As retribution, capital punishment works. As deterrent, the noose, the chopping block, the firing squad and all other manners of execution have never been effective. The death penalty is a Dark Ages relic reflecting an unwillingness to overcome the instincts of our reptile brains with civilized behavior the way almost all the other developed democracies on the planet have seen fit to do. Read more