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Washington becomes the 20th US state to ban the death penalty after its Supreme Court ruled it was applied in an "arbitrary and racially biased manner." The decision commutes the sentences of eight people currently on death row to life imprisonment. Last year, 23 people were executed in the US, but Washington has not carried out the death penalty since 2010. This decision comes after an appeal by death row inmate Allen Gregory, highlighting the racial disparities in death sentence convictions in the state.
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Washington has become the 20th US state to ban the death penalty, after its Supreme Court ruled the punishment was applied in an "arbitrary and racially biased manner.” The eight people currently on death row in the north-western state immediately had their sentences commuted to life. A total of 23 people were executed in the US last year, but Washington has not carried out the death penalty since 2010. Judges sitting on the Washington state Supreme Court unanimously backed Thursday's decision, made during an appeal by death row inmate Allen Gregory, who raped and murdered a woman in 1996. The appeal had included a study which showed black convicts were 4.5 times more likely to be sentenced to death in Washington state than white inmates. Advocates for capital punishment argue it should be available for those who commit the worst crimes.
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