Bill Would Limit Media At Executions

Thu., Feb. 23, 1995

Associated Press

The press would be limited to three seats at an execution under a measure that cleared the House late Wednesday.

Passage came after backers complained that 12 reporters had been admitted into the execution of triple-killer Charles Campbell last spring, leaving only five seats for family members of victims.

The death chamber at the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla has enough room for only 17 witnesses, they said.

“An execution is a very personal thing,” declared co-sponsor Jeralita Costa, D-Marysville, adding that families should be allowed in before reporters. She got no argument, and the bill was passed, 97-0.

The bill, sent to the Senate, also would permit families of victims other than an immediate family member to attend an execution.

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