âThe court makes it perfectly clear that capital punishment in our state has been imposed in an âarbitrary and racially biased manner,â is âunequally appliedâ and serves no criminal justice goal.â
Amen!
Of course, anti-choice Republicans â claiming they value âThe Culture of Lifeâ â will immediately attack this.
Bank on it; nobody ever went broke betting on GOP hypocrisy.
Thank you, Washington.
Wow - they got it just right.
Very encouraging.
Iâm betting Donnie is now praying that his upcoming treason trial is held in Washington State, not Washington DC?
Treason is a federal crime, honey, and this has nothing to do with the federal criminal system = this is just the state.
For dirty traitors like the Republicans, I say we need MORE executions.
Permit me the dumb question⌠Is is correct to say that this is a done deal? This isnât the type of issue that can be appealed to the US Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court could rule if the death penalty is constitutional or unconstitutional, but they wouldnât override a state Supreme Court ruling saying it is unconstitutional⌠or would they?
What a shame. First the Draft, then Roe v. Wade, and now the death penalty. Not hard to see the decline of America as most native born citizens see it. sad.
It will likely go to the SCOTUS. Yes they could overrule it but I donât know what theyâll do here.
Hey, a guy can wish, canât he?
Thanks⌠The idea that the Supreme Court would rule that a state constitution must not ban the death penalty is bizarre. Thou shall not not kill people!
But he can still be charged and convicted and executed in the federal system.
Let me say this, Iâd have to go look to be sure but in the past they have not ever that I can recall overruled a state ban of the Death Penalty. Other states have declared it unconstitutional in the past and the SCOTUS has let it stand because of dual sovereignty and they likely will here.
States are free to give citizens MORE rights than the federal government does - they just canât restrict rights the federal government recognizes.
I will cite Washington State supreme court in my disagreement:
One of GOPâs transgressions is hypocrisy. We donât want to be guilty of the same, do we?
âA meaningless hypothetical question. This is not worth commenting on because The President has done nothing wrong.â -SHS
The only way that SCOTUS can invalidate a provision of a state constitution is by declaring that it contradicts federal one (or at least a federal law â INAL). We do not have a constitutional right to capital punishment that would be violated by this Washington State decision, do we?
Not as far as I know.
What I think is that the SCOTUS will not take the case if the appeals court agrees with the trial court. Theyâll let it stand because there wonât be a question left. The state has that power.
I donât know what the Washington state constitution says but I doubt itâs part of the issue. You may know something I donât.
The court makes it perfectly clear that capital punishment in our state has been imposed in an âarbitrary and racially biased mannerâ
Thatâs a good start, but it only covers capital punishment as a sentence after conviction.
Thereâs a much bigger problem in capital punishment (and attempted capital punishment) dispensed without trial, jury, or judge for such offenses as:
ânot speaking English
ârunning away from officers in a threatening manner
âbeing deaf
âselling single cigarettes
âthreatening officers with your skin tone
âmoving your hands, even slightly, and even when being hit or handled roughly
âdefending your self and home when it is dark and has been invaded by armed men who havenât identified themselves as officers
âfailure to immediately comply with all orders from officers, whether or not they are clear and heard clearly
âbeing in diabetic shock
âfailure to immediately comply with multiple conflicting orders from officers
âtrying to pull your pants up when an officer threatens to shoot you unless you crawl toward him on the floor
âpicking up an airsoft rifle for sale in a store and carrying it with you while you continue shopping
âetc. while black
I do not think this decision can be appealed: this is the decision of Supreme Court of the Washington State on an issue of the state constitution. The Washington State constitution says that death penalty is unconstitutional because the ultimate interpreter of that constitution, the state Supreme Court, said so.
A decision of a state Supreme Court on the meaning of a state constitution can only be appealed if the appellant claims the decision violates the federal Constitution (or maybe a federal law). And that is where I said, trying to be somewhat sarcastic, that to my knowledge we do not have a constitutional right to capital punishment in the federal constitution.