Feb 12, 2014 04:19 PM EST By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

The governor of Washington announced Tuesday that he is suspending the death penalty, making it the latest state to halt execution, the Associated Press reported.

At a press conference, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) issued a moratorium on the death penalty, describing the use of capital punishment as flawed.  He came to the decision while reviewing the status of the death penalty in the state for the past year and "meetings with victims' families, prosecutors and law enforcement," the AP reported.

The moratorium will last for as long as Inslee is in office.

"I previously supported capital punishment, and I don't question the hard work and judgment of the county prosecutors who bring these cases, or the judges who rule on them," Inslee said at the news conference according to the AP. "But my review of the law in Washington state and my responsibilities as governor have led me to reevaluate this position and the way it relates currently to our state."

Inslee added that 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."

There are currently nine prisoners on death row at Washington's Walla Walla State Penitentiary, where the last execution took place in 2010. The sentences of those men were not commuted or pardoned. Inslee told reporters that if a death sentence comes "to him for action, he will issue a reprieve, The Los Angeles Times reported

"Equal justice under the law is the state's primary responsibility," Inslee is quoted as saying by The Times. "The use of the death penalty in this state is unequally applied, sometimes dependent on the size of the county's budget where the crime occurred."

Washington is the latest state to denounce the death penalty.

Last year, lawmakers in Maryland did away with the death penalty, "becoming the 18th state to do so and the sixth in six years," the AP reported. The same year, Colorado's governor indefinitely suspended execution over concerns about the fairness of the system.

In 2011, the governor of Oregon issued a moratorium similar to what is now in effect in Washington State.

Eighteen US States and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty while seven others have declared a moratorium.

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