Washington governor signs bill eliminating death penalty in state

Washington officially abolished the use of the death penalty in the Democrat-led state this week when Gov. Jay Inslee signed bill 5087.

Washington's supreme court ruled the death penalty was arbitrary and racially-based in 2018 after a study at the University of Washington found that juries were four times as likely to sentence a Black defendant to death than a non-Black one. 

The court converted the sentences of the eight people on Washington's death row to life in prison at the time.