Dori: Death penalty ruling is proof Supreme Court has been bought off

There has now been a death penalty ban in Washington state. Jay Inslee put a moratorium on the death penalty a couple of years ago, which is the prerogative of the governor, so I can’t fault him for that.

I’ve been honest with you about my very conflicted feelings on the death penalty. Emotionally, I support it. I hear about the crimes that these people have committed. I hear the father of Jaymie Biendl, the murdered corrections officer, who is devastated that his daughter’s killer is now not ever going to face the death penalty.

Intellectually, I do not believe it serves us well. I do believe that life is not something that man should take, even if it is the lives of these horrible criminals.

RELATED: Why Dori is conflicted about the death penalty

But then I think about how the specific killer on death row — Allen Eugene Gregory, who raped, robbed, and murdered a 43-year-old woman in 1996 — prevailed in the Supreme Court decision on Thursday, and how he felt joy. He took away the possibilities of his victim ever feeling another moment of happiness. He stripped her family members and loved ones of much of the joy in their lives. And this killer-rapist felt joy on Thursday.

The other huge issue associated with this story is that our constitution has not changed. Our state Supreme Court has. We have a radical Supreme Court that has been bought and paid for by not just the Washington Education Association, but by a lot of leftist forces in our state. When our Supreme Court can reinterpret the state constitution in a different way than the way it was framed, that’s worrisome to me.

We have one of the bluest states in the country. We have Democrats in control everywhere in our state government. If we are arbitrarily applying the death penalty, as Governor Inslee said, then maybe we shouldn’t trust such major decisions to the party that has been in control of our state for most of my lifetime. Maybe this is a damning indictment of the people who are involved in setting our laws and applying our laws.

Reichert disappointed in SCOW ruling

Congressional District 8 Representative Dave Reichert (R-WA), who formerly served as King County Sheriff and as a member of the Green River Task Force to catch Green River killer Gary Ridgway, told me that the court’s decision was disappointing. The existence of the death penalty, Reichert said, makes it possible to get vital information out of murderers that solves cases and brings some closure to the victims’ family and friends.

“If you know that the death penalty is hanging over you, you might be more inclined to cooperate — through your attorneys, of course — with the police and the prosecutor’s office,” Reichert said.

In the Green River case, Reichert said, Ridgway knew that DNA evidence had condemned him to a certainty, and was too afraid of dying to hold back information from detectives.

“He knew that he was likely going to be receiving the death penalty, and so his attorneys decided to save his life — Ridgway is a coward —  and the only way out for him to save his own life was to talk about the murders of all the girls he had taken away from their families,” Reichert said.

Reichert pointed out that in Washington, only five people have been executed since the early 1970s, showing that the punishment is really only reserved for “the worst of the worst.”

The Congressman told me that as a Christian, he has the same struggles that I have with the idea of the government taking away life, but ultimately he reconciles it with his faith.

“God allows us to make laws and carry those laws out in this world, to protect and preserve peace and safety for the people who live on this Earth,” Reichert said. “And I believe that … if we’re carrying out the law in a way that’s not vindictive, that’s not unfair, that’s not unethical, that’s not dishonest, we’re carrying out a law that is benefiting people and benefiting society. “

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