The AP reports:

Legal experts say the plea bargain with the Green River Killer raises a thorny question: If the state of Washington is not going to execute someone who has confessed to murdering 48 people, how can it ever again put anyone to death?

It is a question of simple fairness: Under state law, the Washington state Supreme Court is required to review every death sentence handed out, and must consider whether the sentence "is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant."

Some lawyers say a death sentence for someone who killed one or two people could well be considered "disproportionate" when compared to what Gary Leon Ridgway got.

Let's hope so. Our friend Rev. Mr. George W. Brooks, J.D., Director of Advocacy of the Kolbe House, in Chicago writes:

The DP is reserved for the "worst of the worst", the most egregious killers. Obviously killing 48 is not the "worst of the worst". Maybe abolitionists can compromise and have the death penalty apply to those who kill 50 or more. It could be called the "Half-Bucking Death Penalty Reform Act"

Update: George adds the thoughts of a friend of his, "What if this was the murder of 48 police officers? What if it was 48 middle class men ( white of course) ?