Washington state rules death penalty unconstitutional

(Image credit: iStock)

published 11 October 2018

The Washington state Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the death penalty violates the state constitution, The Seattle Times reports.

Prisoners on death row have had their sentences converted to lifetime imprisonment. The justices said that they ruled the death penalty unlawful because "it is imposed in an arbitrary and racially biased manner."

The ruling was sparked by Allen Eugene Gregory, whose lawyers argued that the death penalty is not applied fairly. Justices agreed, noting that "this particular case provides an opportunity to specifically address racial disproportionality," but in general, its application is also affected by "where the crime took place, or the county of residence, or the available budgetary resources at any given point in time."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox