{"id":377056,"date":"2016-03-31T21:37:12","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T02:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/washington-law\/washington-capital-punishment-laws.html"},"modified":"2024-12-04T16:12:58","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T21:12:58","slug":"washington-capital-punishment-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/washington-law\/washington-capital-punishment-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"Washington Capital Punishment Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Washington Capital Punishment Laws<\/h1>\n
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\n By Melissa McCall, J.D.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by FindLaw Staff<\/a>\n | Last updated\n
\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

\n \n <\/i>\n Fact-Checked\n <\/summary>\n\n
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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

The legality and application of the death penalty, or capital punishment<\/a>, varies from state to state. Let’s learn more about the specific law<\/a> in the state of Washington.<\/p>\r\n

Although Washington abolished the death penalty in 2018, the road to absolution was not simple. Capital punishment was the law even before Washington joined the United States.<\/p>\r\n

Historical Background<\/b><\/h2>\r\n

Capital punishment in America goes back to colonial times. Captain George Kendall of Jamestown, Virginia, was the first person executed in the Colonies. Washington State’s first execution by hanging took place in 1849. Washington State abolished the death penalty in 1913 and reinstated it six years later.<\/p>\r\n

National Moratorium<\/h3>\r\n

Washington’s death penalty statute remained good law until 1972 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia<\/i><\/a>. Furman<\/i> effectively overturned death penalty statutes in the entire United States. In reviewing death sentences issued in Georgia and Texas, the Court determined that each sentence of death violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.<\/p>\r\n

Although the Court’s majority had different reasons for determining the death penalty was unconstitutional, the Furman<\/i> ruling ushered in a national moratorium. According to the Death Penalty Information Center<\/a>, this case overturned the death penalty in every state and "spared the lives of nearly 600 people" then on death row.<\/p>\r\n

From 1972 through 1976, most state legislatures, including Washington’s legislature, had to reconsider their death penalty statutes. On Nov. 5, 1975, Washington voters approved Washington Initiative 316<\/a>, a ballot initiative to approve a new death penalty statute. The question proposed by this initiative was simple: should the death penalty be mandatory in the case of aggravated murder in first-degree murder? Washington voters (70%) resoundingly approved of this initiative.<\/p>\r\n

Gregg v. Georgia<\/i><\/a> marked the end of the national moratorium and a return to the death penalty. In Gregg,<\/i> the Supreme Court laid out criteria for death penalty statutes. These criteria<\/a> included the following:<\/p>\r\n