Teacher:In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? Solve this instance: OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday he was suspending the use of the death penalty in Washington state, announcing a move that he hopes will enable officials to "join a growing national conversation about capital punishment." 
  
 The Democrat said he came to the decision after months of review, meetings with family members of victims, prosecutors and law enforcement. 
  
 "There have been too many doubts raised about capital punishment, there are too many flaws in this system today," Inslee said at a news conference. "There is too much at stake to accept an imperfect system." 
  
 Inslee said that the use of the death penalty is inconsistent and unequal. The governor's staff briefed lawmakers about the move on Monday night and Tuesday morning. 
  
 Inslee's moratorium means that if a death penalty case comes to his desk, he will issue a reprieve, which isn't a pardon and doesn't commute the sentences of those condemned to death. 
  
 "Nobody is getting out of prison, period," Inslee said. 
  
 Last year, Maryland abolished the death penalty, the 18th state to do so and the sixth in the last six years. 
  
 Nine men await execution at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. The state Supreme Court just last month rejected a petition for release from death row inmate Jonathan Lee Gentry, sentenced for the murder of a 12-year-old girl in 1988. Gentry could be the first execution in the state since September 2010, when Cal Coburn Brown died by lethal injection for the 1991 murder of a Seattle-area woman. A federal stay had recently been lifted in Gentry's case, and a remaining state stay on his execution was expected to be lifted this month. 
  
 The decision by the governor comes following a recent decision by the state Department of Corrections, which is in the process of changing its execution protocol to allow witnesses to executions to see the entire process, including the insertion of intravenous catheters during a lethal injection. 
  
 The new witness protocol, currently a draft that is in its final stages of approval, includes the use of television monitors to show the inmate entering the death chamber and being strapped down, as well as the insertion of the IVs, which had both previously been shielded from public view. 
  
 Through public disclosure requests, The Associated Press had sought information about any potential changes to the execution protocols. State corrections officials spoke with the AP about the new procedures late last month. 
  
 The change is in response to a 2012 federal appeals court ruling that said all parts of an execution must be fully open to public witnesses. That ruling was sparked by a case brought by The AP and other news organizations who challenged Idaho's policy to shield the insertion of IV catheters from public view, in spite of a 2002 ruling from the same court that said every aspect of an execution should be open to witnesses. ||||| Gov. Jay Inslee announces capital punishment moratorium 
  
 Gov. Jay Inslee today announced that he is imposing a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty in Washington state. 
  
 Inslee’s decision comes after months of careful review of the status of capital punishment in Washington state including research on current cases, discussions with prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and family members of homicide victims, and a tour of death row and the execution chambers at Walla Walla State Penitentiary. 
  
 Inslee said it is clear to him that use of capital punishment is inconsistent and unequal, and it’s time to have a conversation about ensuring equal justice under the law. 
  
 “Equal justice under the law is the state’s primary responsibility. And in death penalty cases, I’m not convinced equal justice is being served,” Inslee said. “The use of the death penalty in this state is unequally applied, sometimes dependent on the budget of the county where the crime occurred.” 
  
 The moratorium means that if a death penalty case comes to the governor’s desk for action, he will issue a reprieve. This action does not commute the sentences of those on death row or issue any pardons. 
  
 The majority of Washington’s death penalty sentences are overturned and those convicted of capital offenses are rarely executed, indicating questionable sentencing in many cases. Since 1981, the year Washington state’s current capital laws were put in place, 32 defendants have been sentenced to die. Of those, 18 had their sentences converted to life in prison and one was set free. 
  
 “I want to acknowledge that there are many good protections built into Washington state’s death penalty law. But there have been too many doubts raised about capital punishment,” Inslee said. “There are too many flaws in the system. And when the ultimate decision is death there is too much at stake to accept an imperfect system.” 
  
 Inslee stressed that the moratorium is not a show of mercy for the criminals awaiting execution. 
  
 “Let me say clearly that this policy decision is not about the nine men on death row in Walla Walla,” the governor said. “I don’t question their guilt or the gravity of their crimes. They get no mercy from me. This action does not commute their sentences or issue any pardons to any offender. But I do not believe their horrific offenses override the problems that exist in our capital punishment system.” 
  
 RCW 10.01.120 gives authority to the Office of the Governor to halt death warrants. Currently, eighteen states have outlawed the death penalty and seven states have a moratorium imposed by the governor or the courts. Governor Inslee says he knows this is an emotional and heated issue, and that his announcement places Washington into a growing national conversation. 
  
 “With my action today I expect Washington state will join a growing national conversation about capital punishment. I welcome that and I’m confident that our citizens will engage in this very important debate.” |||||
Student:
Gov. Jay Inslee today brought the use of the death penalty to a screeching halt in Washington state, declaring a moratorium on a system he says has "too many flaws" and pushing his state to "join a growing national conversation" about capital punishment. "There is too much at stake to accept an imperfect system," said the Democrat, adding that "I'm not convinced equal justice is being served," reports KVEW-TV. But far from being a get-out-of-death-row-free card for inmates, the AP notes that Inslee will issue a reprieve—rather than a pardon or commutation of the sentence. "Nobody is getting out of prison, period," Inslee said. Nine men currently sit on death row in Walla Walla; a stay of execution for one was expected to be lifted this month.