USA - Washington. House Committee passed HB 1488 to repeal the state’s death penalty law.

The House Committee on Public Safety has passed SB 5339/HB 1488, a measure to repeal the state’s death penalty law. Whether it will receive vote by the full House is still uncertain. The bill passed the Senate on January 31, 2020 by a 28-18 vote. SB 5339/HB 1488 would make permanent a 2018 state Supreme Court ruling that struck down capital punishment as arbitrary and racially biased. The measure would remove capital punishment as a sentencing option for aggravated murder and mandating instead a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. Gov. Jay Inslee has said he will sign it if it makes it to his desk.