( CNN ) -- Washington 's governor has unilaterally imposed a moratorium on capital punishment in his state , saying Tuesday there are `` too many doubts '' and `` too many flaws '' raised about its application . In a statement , Gov . Jay Inslee said he is suspending executions while he is in office , meaning he will issue reprieves when any capital cases come to his desk for action . He said his decision comes after a months-long internal review that included input from law enforcement and families of murder victims . Inslee concluded the death penalty was inconsistently applied . `` 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 , '' the first-term Democratic governor 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 governor 's executive action will not definitively end future use of capital punishment in Washington -- that would take action from the legislature or voters -- nor will death row sentences automatically be commuted or pardons issued . Nine murderers , all men , remain on Washington 's death row , at Walla Walla State Penitentiary . Five men have been executed since 1976 , when the Supreme Court allowed the practice to resume . Two of the condemned inmates died by hanging , in 1993 and 1994 . The last execution in the state was in 2010 , according to the Death Penalty Information Center . Lethal injection remains the primary method , but a shortage of drugs nationwide has led other states to seek new pharmaceutical sources and methods , or effectively postpone executions . Inslee said his action had nothing to do with mercy . `` Let me say clearly that this policy decision is not about the nine men on death row in Walla Walla , '' he said . `` I do n'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 . '' State law gives Inslee the authority to stop death warrants from being issued . Civil rights groups applauded the move . `` This announcement marks an important step forward for Washington , and is a victory for the African-American community . Nowhere are disparities between black and white inmates in criminal justice more apparent than in sentences deciding who lives and who dies , '' said Gerald Hankerson , the president of the Alaska , Oregon , and Washington State Area Conference of the NAACP . `` African-American residents are disproportionately represented on death row , and our state is more likely to impose the death penalty on African-American defendants than white defendants convicted of the same crime . '' Eighteen states have officially banned capital punishment as a matter of law , including the District of Columbia . Seven others have had a moratorium imposed either by the courts or the governor . Among them was Oregon in 2011 . `` It is time for Oregon to consider a different approach . I refuse to be a part of this compromised and inequitable system any longer ; and I will not allow further executions while I am governor , '' said John Kitzhaber , a Democrat . Both of Oregon 's executions since the Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume in 1976 happened during Kitzhaber 's first administration as governor , from 1995-2003 .
Gov . Jay Inslee says he is suspending executions while he is in office . Inslee says the death penalty is inconsistently applied in Washington . Comment: