Thursday, February 13, 2014

Washington's Governor Jay Inslee Suspends Death Penalty, Saying There Are ‘Too Many Doubts’

WA's Gov Suspends Death Penalty, Saying There Are 'Too Many Doubts'

Addictive Info

On Tuesday, Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee announced there would be no more executions on his watch. Citing the most critical reason possible for taking this step, he said:
There have been too many doubts raised about capital punishment. There are too many flaws in the system. And when the ultimate decision is death, there is too much at stake to accept an imperfect system.

Inslee hopes to become part of the national conversation.

Inslee hopes the moratorium will give Washington a chance to join a growing conversation. The use of an irreversible punishment which has sometimes been applied to the innocent is being seriously questioned nationwide.  He is the third Democratic governor in recent years to make such an announcement. Previously, Oregon’s Gov. Kitzhaber and Colorado’s Gov. Hickenlooper took the same executive action. Eighteen states have outlawed the death penalty altogether, including six in just the last six years.
The governor also pointed out that capital punishment doesn’t serve the cause of equal justice. Counties are inconsistent in their ability to use the death penalty because of disparities in their budgets. The expense of pursuing death penalty cases to their conclusion can be prohibitive. Inslee said:
The costs associated with prosecuting a capital case far outweigh the price of locking someone up for life without the possibility of parole.

12 comments:

  1. The best form of capitol punishment is that which is meted out at the scene of the crime by the intended victim in self defense. Then there is no concern over the wrong guy being convicted. And its also much cheaper than incarcerating a person for life without parole.

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    Replies
    1. But what do you think about Inslee's decision?

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    2. Ah yes, the gun loon justice. No police, no trial, no jury, no due process, just execution.

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    3. "But what do you think about Inslee's decision?"

      I think he needs to man up and make a decision. If he truly believe that capitol punishment is wrong, then he could easily decide to commute all of the death sentences to life without parole. That would be the most humane thing to do instead of forcing the inmates to wonder if the next election will end their lives.

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    4. "Ah yes, the gun loon justice."

      Actually Anon, we've discussed before that the number of people who die from gunshot is fairly low, and declining due to advances in medical technology.
      People who use firearms to defend themselves shoot to stop the threat. If the assailant leaves, or is wounded to the point where they have to stop the attack, that is perfectly ok.
      Its regrettable that the FBI or CDC don't track justified use of firearms for self defense like they do justifiable homicides. It would be a more accurate indicator.

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    5. Defending gun shot deaths because they are a low number (33,000 gun shot deaths a year) of the total number of gun owners? Great character stance there.
      You said,
      "The best form of capitol punishment is that which is meted out at the scene"
      I replied,
      "Ah yes, the gun loon justice. No police, no trial, no jury, no due process, just execution."
      No response to my comment, figures.

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    6. Anon, as you can see, I did reply to your comment. Perhaps you should be a bit more patient. When you throw in the fact that most here have a life, and that moderation inherently slows things down a bit, conversations will end up being a bit more drawn out.

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    7. I have to agree with anonymous about this. "Defending gun shot deaths because they are a low number (33,000 gun shot deaths a year) of the total number of gun owners? Great character stance there."

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    8. Wrong SS. I waited for your response and responded to it. Note the times. Why do you have to lie?

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    9. "Note the times. Why do you have to lie?"

      Anon, I suspect that a lot of this issue is affected by how Mike's blog works. I don't know how the blog software does the timestamp thing. For example, your comment commenting on my perceived lack of response has a time stamp showing 10:04PM, yet the email I received alerting me to the comment has a timestamp of 2:50PM.
      Do you recall when you actually submitted your comment, and if so, which of the times coincides with your recollection. Perhaps Mike can add some more to this since its his blog and knows better than both of us.
      Even if the timestamps are accurate, considering the points I made before, a six hour lag in answering a comment isn't unreasonable, and you trying to claim some sort of victory because of it isn't much of a victory.

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    10. Anonymous, Sarge replied within half an hour. But you posted your tedious remark about "no response" in your comment in 9:31.

      Delete
  2. Cut the expensive bureaucratic bullshit and put them to death. I can't afford an expensive cable bill because my money goes to make sure prisoners have cable access.

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