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Washington Governor Jay Anslee Suspends Death Penalty: Which States Have Banned Capital Punishment?
On Tuesday, the governor of the state of Washington, Jay Inslee, announced that he’ll be suspending the death penalty in Washington, explaining that he’s “not convinced equal justice is being served” and citing concerns that “the use of the death penalty in this state is unequally applied.” While capital punishment will still be the law of the land in Washington, Inslee has pledged to issue a reprieve any time a death penalty case lands on his desk; this doesn’t mean the prisoner in question will be released, only that they won’t be executed.
This decision doesn’t outlaw the death penalty in Washington, and Inslee’s decision can be reversed at any time, either by him or whoever succeeds him as governor. But it does place Washington, if only temporarily, alongside the 17 other states, plus the District of Columbia, that have officially abolished capital punishment.
Images: Getty Images
Alaska
Date abolished: 1957
New York
Date abolished: 2007
Hawaii
Date abolished: 1957
Wisconsin
Date abolished: 1853
Photo credit: Richard Hurd
Michigan
Date abolished: 1846 (!)
North Dakota
Date abolished: 1973
Rhode Island
Date abolished: 1984
Vermont
Date abolished: 1964
Washington D.C.
Date abolished: 1981
Minnesota
Date abolished: 1911
Maryland
Date abolished: 2013
Maine
Date abolished: 1887
Massachusetts
Date abolished: 1984
Illinois
Date abolished: 2011
New Jersey
Date abolished: 2007
West Virginia
Date abolished: 1965
Iowa
Date abolished: 1965
New Mexico
Date abolished: 2009
