Safe and Just Alternatives
Led by the ACLU-WA and the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the Safe and Just Alternatives Campaign seeks to replace the death penalty with a sentence of lifetime incarceration without the possibility of parole.
Sponsors: Rep. Carlyle, Sen. Regala
Momentum is building across the country to reconsider use of the death penalty. There is a growing recognition that the capital punishment system is broken beyond repair. The death penalty is costly and ineffective – it neither deters crime nor does it offer swift and certain justice for victims' families.
Maintaining the death penalty is particularly untenable given Washington's current fiscal crisis. Capital cases are far more expensive than cases seeking life imprisonment without possibility of parole. For a single death penalty trial in Washington, taxpayers pay nearly $800,000 in additional costs beyond what is spent on a non-death penalty trial for aggravated murder.
A better alternative that protects public safety is a sentence of lifetime incarceration without the possibility of parole. Rather than spending money on the death penalty, our state could use those resources towards proven strategies for fighting crime and making the criminal justice system more responsive to the needs of crime victims and communities.
On January 25th the Safe and Just Alternatives Campaign held a press conference and mobilized supporters for a Lobby Day in Olympia to tell legislators that lifetime behind bars is a sensible and cost-effective alternative to the death penalty. Learn more at www.sjawa.org.
