Friends,
The Washington State Supreme Court has struck down our broken death penalty four times in its history, and for good reason. Our Supreme Court found that our death penalty is arbitrarily imposed and racially biased, with black defendants four times as likely to be sentenced to death as white defendants.
Every previous time the Supreme Court found our death penalty unconstitutional, state legislators enacted legal fixes to try to satisfy the court. None of their attempts addressed the racial bias at the core of how the death penalty is applied -- but that hasn’t stopped a bipartisan group of Washington State legislators from introducing a bill this session that seeks to reinstitute the death penalty.
Enough is enough.
It’s time to end the cycle of trying to fix an unfixable law. I’m proud to say that the Washington State Senate passed my proposal to repeal the death penalty and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole in a bipartisan 28-18 vote two weeks ago.
I deeply appreciate the State Senators who voted for this proposal.
Now, it’s up to the House of Representatives to bring the bill to a vote and send a powerful message across the country that Washington supports equal justice under the law. I’ll keep you updated on the bill’s progress.
Best,
Bob
