Maryland in the American Civil War a majority of the legislature, wished to remain in the Union, but did not want to be involved in a war against their southern neighbors, and sought to prevent a military response by Lincoln to the South's secession. After John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, many citizens began forming local militias, determined to prevent a future slave uprising. The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred in Maryland. Anxious about the risk of secessionists capturing Washington, D.C., given that the capital was bordered by Virginia, and preparing for war with the South, the federal government requested armed volunteers
Capital punishment in Washington (state) moratorium. All death penalty cases that come to Inslee will result in him issuing a reprieve, not a pardon or commutation. On January 16, 2017, Governor Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson introduced legislation to abolish the death penalty in Washington state. Though the legislation failed to pass, Governor Inslee stated a commitment to ending capital punishment in the future. On October 11, 2018, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled the current death penalty statute unconstitutional, on the ground that it resulted in racial bias, thus abolishing capital punishment in the state. It became the 20th state in the nation