House Bill 1504, a bill that eliminates the death penalty in Washington, received a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee this morning. The Safe and Just Alternatives Campaign produced a short but powerful case for why our state should follow the 17 others that have ended this practice.

As I’ve written previously, I oppose the death penalty. There is a lack of evidence that this form of punishment deters crime, but an abundance of evidence that it costs society much more and is used arbitrarily and disproportionately across racial lines. Our society has been unable to justly administer this ultimate exercise of power. Too many lives have been ruined as a result.