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Good NewsWashington State Abolishes Death Penalty
Article by Nicolas Chua published on October 26th, 2018On 11 October 2018, Washington became the 20th US state to abolish the death penalty: the court ruling, written by Chief Justice Mary E. Fairhurst, cited the “arbitrary and racially biased manner” in which the death penalty was applied as a violation of the state’s constitutional prohibition of “cruel punishment”.
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The ruling was issued in the case of Allen Gregory, an African-American man sentenced to death for rape and murder: in the process of proving the death penalty’s unconstitutionality, the court referred to a 2014 study by Prof. Katherine Beckett from the University of Washington which showed that Washington jurors are 3 times more likely to recommend capital punishment for a black defendant than for a white defendant in a similar case.
This historic decision comes after governor Jay Inslee’s 2014 moratorium on all executions, and makes Washington the 8th state to abolish the death penalty in the last 20 years.
The Supreme Court Justices also decided to commute the death sentences of all 8 prisoners on death row to life imprisonment without possibility of release.
The successful outcome of this case could not have been achieved without the efforts of all actors involved: lawyers, researchers, abolitonist NGOs, and activists, most notably the ACLU Washington. Attorneys Lila Silverstein of the Washington Appellate Project and Neil Fox represented Allen Eugene Gregory in his appeal to the state supreme court and brought the claims of constitutional error on his behalf.
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Related
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Good News Gambia commits to full abolition of the death penalty
Article by Nicolas Chua published on October 26th, 2018
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Good News Burkina Faso has joined the global trend toward abolition of the death penalty in Africa
Article by International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) published on June 06th, 2018
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Good news Caribbean Court of Justice strikes down mandatory death penalty in Barbados
Article by Death Penalty Project published on June 27th, 2018
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Worldwide database
United States
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- Death penalty law status:
- Retentionist
- Geographical region:
- Northern America (North America)
- Method(s) of execution:
- Other, Shooting, Lethal Injection
- Year of last execution:
- 2019
- Executions in :
- 15
- Source: Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law
- Last updated: 9 March 2014
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