USA - Washington. House Committee passed HB 1488 to remove the death penalty from the state’s statute books.

The House Committee on Public Safety by a 7-3 vote passed HB 1488 (the House version of SB 5339) to remove the death penalty from the state’s statute books. In October 2018, the Washington Supreme Court struck down the state’s death penalty law, declaring that it had been “imposed in an arbitrary and racially biased manner.” That ruling also overturned the death sentences of all eight people on the state’s death row and converted them to life without parole. The court’s decision left open the possibility that legislative reforms to the death penalty could bring the practice in line with the state constitution. However, the proposed legislation would formally eliminate capital punishment as a sentencing option in Washington.