The U.S. state of Washington enforced capital punishment until the state's capital punishment statute was declared null and void and abolished in practice by a state Supreme Court ruling on October 11, 2018. The court ruled that it was unconstitutional as applied due to racial bias however it did not render the wider institution of capital punishment unconstitutional and rather required the statute to be amended to eliminate racial biases. From 1904 to 2010, 78 people were executed by the state; the last was Cal Coburn Brown on September 10, 2010. [1] In April 2023, Governor Jay Inslee signed SB5087 which formally abolished capital punishment in Washington State and removed provisions for capital punishment from state law. [2] [1]
When the prosecution sought the death penalty, the sentence was decided by the jury and had to be unanimous.
In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence would be issued, even if a single juror opposed death (there was no retrial). [3]
The governor had the power of clemency with respect to death sentences. [4]
The following were considered circumstances for aggravated first degree murder: [5]
Death Row for males was located at Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla, which was also the site of executions. Females were housed at Washington Corrections Center for Women at Purdy near Gig Harbor while awaiting execution.
Following the reintroduction of capital punishment in the late 1970s, inmates were able to choose if their execution will be carried out by lethal injection or hanging. If the inmate made no decision, lethal injection was the default method. Washington was the last state with an active gallows (Delaware dismantled theirs in 2003). [6]
According to the Revised Code of Washington § 10.95.180, executions in Washington: [7] [8]
...shall be inflicted by intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death and until the defendant is dead, or, at the election of the defendant, by hanging by the neck until the defendant is dead.
Mitchell Rupe attempted to have his execution overturned due to the fact that his obesity could decapitate him, thus leading to his execution being cruel and unusual. The court held that the science behind the method of hanging was insufficient to mitigate the likelihood of decapitation. [9] Charles Rodman Campbell declined to choose his method of execution, thus the method defaulted to hanging (which was the default method at the time). His execution was carried out without incident. [10]
On September 10, 2010, Washington became the second state, after Ohio, to use a single dose injection of sodium thiopental as opposed to the typical three drug protocol used in most other jurisdictions. The single-drug protocol was used during the execution of Cal Coburn Brown. [11]
A total of 110 executions have been carried out in the state and its predecessor territories since 1849. All but the most recent three were by hanging. As of 2017, the Washington State Department of Corrections listed eight men on death row. [12] The first hangings occurred on January 5, 1849, when Cussas and Quallahworst, two Native Americans, were hanged for murder. Executions are rarely carried out in the state — the most executions in one year was five in 1939, and there was an average of less than one hanging per year between 1849 and 1963.
The death penalty was abolished in 1913 and reinstated in 1919. The statute remained unchanged until 1975, when the people adopted a measure providing a mandatory death sentence for aggravated murder, with 69% of voters in favor. [13]
U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Woodson v. North Carolina , 428 U.S. 280 (1976) and Roberts v. Louisiana , 428 U.S. 325 (1976), 431 U.S. 633 (1977), meant that such a law was unconstitutional and the statute was modified to give detailed procedures for imposing the death penalty.
This new law was itself found unconstitutional by the Washington Supreme Court, as a person who had pleaded not guilty could be sentenced to death, while someone who pleaded guilty would receive a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole. The current law was passed in 1981 to correct these constitutional defects.
In 1995, Washington Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Utter resigned in protest of the court's handling of capital punishment, stating "I have reached the point where I can no longer participate in a legal system that intentionally takes human life in capital punishment cases”. [14] [15]
On February 11, 2014, Governor Jay Inslee announced a capital punishment moratorium. All death penalty cases that come to Inslee will result in him issuing a reprieve, not a pardon or commutation. [16] [17] [18]
On January 16, 2017, Governor Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson introduced legislation to abolish the death penalty in Washington state. [19] Though the legislation failed to pass, Governor Inslee stated a commitment to ending capital punishment in the future. [20]
On October 11, 2018, the Washington Supreme Court found that the state's current death penalty statute violated the Constitution of Washington, on the ground that it resulted in racial bias, thus abolishing capital punishment in the state. [21] All of the court's members agreed in the result. [22] [23] In State v. Gregory, represented by civil rights attorneys Lila Silverstein and Neil Fox, the court based its conclusions on a regression analysis by University of Washington sociologist Katherine Beckett which had been commissioned by a condemned prisoner. [24] [25] [26]
The eight inmates that were on death row at the time of ruling had their sentences converted to life in prison. The State Supreme Court did not rule out the possibility that the state legislature could enact a constitutional death penalty statute in the future. [27] In 2023, the state legislature repealed the remaining state laws on capital punishment in support of the Supreme Court ruling. [1]
In April 2023, Governor Inslee signed SB 5087, which formally abolished capital punishment in Washington state and removed provisions for capital punishment from state law. [2] [1]
In 2004, the Washington State Bar Association's Council on Public Defense chartered a sub-committee to examine "the practical wisdom of continuing to pursue death penalty prosecutions in light of Washington's experience with sentence reversals, potential benefits to the criminal justice system from cost savings" and other matters. Made up of both opponents and advocates, the subcommittee issued its final report in December 2006. Noting the extra costs associated with capital trials and great disparities in the current system, the report suggested that compensation for attorneys be increased, with all defense and prosecution costs to be paid by the state.
Support for the death penalty in the United States is at historic lows. In a 2017 end of the year report, the Death Penalty Information Center reported that public support of the death penalty reached 45 year lows. [28] In Washington state, Jay Inslee's decision to institute a moratorium on capital punishment did not negatively impact his support among voters, as evidenced by the fact that he won the 2016 gubernatorial race (54.4%) [29] by a larger margin than the 2012 race (51.2%). [30] Inslee won by an even larger margin in 2020 (56.6%), [31] running against a pro-capital punishment candidate for the first time.
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 19 states currently have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other 8, as well as the federal government and military, being subject to different types of moratoriums.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Indiana. The last man executed in the state, excluding federal executions at Terre Haute, was the murderer Matthew Wrinkles in 2009.
In the U.S. state of California, capital punishment is not allowed to be carried out as of March 2019, because executions were halted by an official moratorium ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. Before the moratorium, executions had been frozen by a federal court order since 2006, and the litigation resulting in the court order has been on hold since the promulgation of the moratorium. Thus, there will be a court-ordered moratorium on executions after the termination of Newsom's moratorium if capital punishment remains a legal penalty in California by then.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Utah.
Capital punishment was abolished via the legislative process on May 2, 2013, in the U.S. state of Maryland.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Capital punishment is one of two possible penalties for aggravated murder in the U.S. state of Oregon, with it being required by the Constitution of Oregon.
Capital punishment was abolished in 2019 in New Hampshire for persons convicted of capital murder. It remains a legal penalty for crimes committed prior to May 30, 2019.
Capital punishment in Connecticut formerly existed as an available sanction for a criminal defendant upon conviction for the commission of a capital offense. Since the 1976 United States Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia until Connecticut repealed capital punishment in 2012, Connecticut had only executed one person, Michael Bruce Ross in 2005. Initially, the 2012 law allowed executions to proceed for those still on death row and convicted under the previous law, but on August 13, 2015, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that applying the death penalty only for past cases was unconstitutional.
Capital punishment in Alabama is a legal penalty. Alabama has the highest per capita capital sentencing rate in the United States. In some years, its courts impose more death sentences than Texas, a state that has a population five times as large. However, Texas has a higher rate of executions both in absolute terms and per capita.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Idaho.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Florida.
Capital punishment is currently a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Kansas, although it has not been used since 1965.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Georgia. Georgia reintroduced the death penalty in 1973 after Furman v. Georgia ruled all states' death penalty statutes unconstitutional. The first execution to take place afterwards occurred in 1983.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Montana.
Capital punishment in Delaware was abolished after being declared unconstitutional by the Delaware Supreme Court on August 2, 2016. The ruling retroactively applies to earlier death sentences, and remaining Delaware death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Despite this, the capital statute for first-degree murder under Title 11, Chapter 42, Section 09, of the Delaware Code has yet to be repealed, though it is unenforceable.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Tennessee.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Pennsylvania. Despite remaining a legal penalty, there have been no executions in Pennsylvania since 1999, and only three since 1976. In February 2015, Governor Tom Wolf announced a formal moratorium on executions that is still in effect as of 2023, with incumbent Governor Josh Shapiro continuing Wolf's moratorium. However, capital crimes are still prosecuted and death warrants are still issued.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Kentucky.