Washington State Neighbor Making Deadly Decision

It's no secret that the death penalty is one of the more polarizing topics across the country.  Some states (like California) have gone back and forth with banning the death penalty, only to reinstate it later, then issue a moratorium to effectively ban it without changing the law.

Washington State used an end-around to remove the death penalty from law.  In 2023, the Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, Steven Gonzalez, used a maneuver afforded to him by lumping the death penalty into a list of other laws deemed unconstitutional and presented to the legislature.

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The governing body was never able to pass a bill through both chambers to end the practice to the Chief Justice did it for them with Senate Bill 5087 which made the death penalty a part of a package of laws the Court deemed as "defect and omissions" in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW).  Gov. Inslee signed the bill and effectively took the punishment out of law.

Washington State's Eastern Neighbor Is Doubling Down on the Death Penalty

When the nationwide shortage of lethal injection drugs kicked in, many states that used the death penalty looked to make sure they could still execute those on death row.  Idaho passed a law in 2023 making them the fifth state to add use of a firing squad to execution options.

Now the Gem State is looking to make firing squad the primary means of execution.  House Bill 37 is awaiting action in the full Senate chamber after passing out of committee and being passed in the House.  It would make Idaho the only state where firing squad is the primary means of execution.  It's also interesting to note the implication it could have on an Idaho case on the national stage.

Could Accused Idaho Students Killer Brian Kohberger Face The Firing Squad?

Currently, Idaho has nine inmates on death row.  If HB 37 passes the Senate and is signed into law by Gov. Brad Little, then if convicted, Brian Kohberger's likelihood of facing the firing squad increases dramatically.  Interestingly enough, the use of the firing squad is being argued as more humane, and less expensive, than lethal injection.

There have been fourteen 'botched' executions by lethal injection since 2000.  With the shortage of the drugs necessary to perform the executions, the cost has gone up, with states paying six figures to obtain the drugs.  The costs to create the firing squad chamber is estimated to be over $1million, but the cost of bullets is much less than the cost of lethal injection drugs.