At our 10-year anniversary celebration in May 2019, the UW Center for Human Rights proudly named Professors Katherine Beckett and Heather Evans as joint recipients of our second Justice Award, in recognition of their uniquely impactful research. Their research has contributed directly to advances in human rights, most recently when the Washington State Supreme Court relied on their findings to strike down the state’s death penalty statute.

On Thursday, October 11, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the death penalty violates the Washington State constitution‘s prohibition on “cruel punishment.” In its ruling, the Court cited research by UW Center for Human Rights Faculty Associate Prof. Katherine Beckett and UW Lecturer Heather Evans, who conducted the first study regarding the impact