Oregon lawmakers to consider death penalty repeal
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon's complicated relationship with capital punishment takes center stage this week as a House committee takes up Gov. John Kitzhaber's plea for a public vote on repealing the death penalty.
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee will hear public testimony on a measure that would ask voters in 2014 whether to insert 10 words in the state constitution: "A sentence of death shall not be imposed or executed."
The proposal doesn't seem likely to go very far, especially after voters in California rejected a similar measure last year.
House Speaker Tina Kotek said she wants to see more evidence the measure could pass in Oregon, although she stopped short of ruling out a 2014 vote.
"I think it was unfortunate that California wasn't successful, and I think that impacted our ability to be successful in the near term," Kotek said.
Rep. Mitch Greenlick, the Portland Democrat sponsoring the measure, said he believes it would pass, and he'd like to see the measure go forward. Kitzhaber told reporters last month that he'd like to see a vote in 2014 even if polling showed the measure was unlikely to pass.
One Republican, Rep. Bob Jenson of Pendleton, has signed on. He said death penalty cases are expensive to try and to appeal, and forensic evidence has proven the innocence of some death row inmates around the country.
"Once you throw the switch, it's impossible to reverse those mistakes," said Jenson said.
In 2011, Kitzhaber issued a temporary reprieve for Gary Haugen, a death row inmate who waived his right to legal appeals and was scheduled to be executed. The governor called for a statewide vote on whether to continue the practice, saying he was morally opposed to capital punishment and was convinced Oregon's death penalty system was broken.
Haugen is now challenging Kitzhaber's reprieve, arguing that the clemency is invalid because he didn't agree to it. A Marion County Circuit Court judge sided with Haugen, and the state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case next month.
Josh Marquis, the district attorney in Clatsop County and a vocal supporter of the death penalty in the most heinous cases, said the legal requirements to impose the death penalty in Oregon are extremely robust to ensure no innocent or improperly represented inmates are executed. The state spares no expense on defending death penalty cases, he said.
"It is rarely sought by prosecutors in Oregon, and it is even more rarely imposed. And I think that's the way it should be," Marquis said.
Oregon has 37 people on death row.
The state has a complex history with capital punishment. Voters have outlawed it twice and legalized it twice, and the state Supreme Court struck it down once. Voters most-recently legalized the death penalty in 1984, with 56 percent in favor of capital punishment.
Since then, the state has executed two people, both during Kitzhaber's first stint as governor between 1995 and 2003. Both inmates, like Haugen, had volunteered for execution, waiving their appeals, and Kitzhaber said that he'd long regretted his decision not to block them.
"I do not believe that those executions made us safer, and certainly they did not make us nobler as a society," Kitzhaber said in announcing his reprieve for Haugen. "And I simply cannot participate once again in something I believe to be morally wrong."
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee will hear public testimony on a measure that would ask voters in 2014 whether to insert 10 words in the state constitution: "A sentence of death shall not be imposed or executed."
The proposal doesn't seem likely to go very far, especially after voters in California rejected a similar measure last year.
House Speaker Tina Kotek said she wants to see more evidence the measure could pass in Oregon, although she stopped short of ruling out a 2014 vote.
"I think it was unfortunate that California wasn't successful, and I think that impacted our ability to be successful in the near term," Kotek said.
Rep. Mitch Greenlick, the Portland Democrat sponsoring the measure, said he believes it would pass, and he'd like to see the measure go forward. Kitzhaber told reporters last month that he'd like to see a vote in 2014 even if polling showed the measure was unlikely to pass.
One Republican, Rep. Bob Jenson of Pendleton, has signed on. He said death penalty cases are expensive to try and to appeal, and forensic evidence has proven the innocence of some death row inmates around the country.
"Once you throw the switch, it's impossible to reverse those mistakes," said Jenson said.
In 2011, Kitzhaber issued a temporary reprieve for Gary Haugen, a death row inmate who waived his right to legal appeals and was scheduled to be executed. The governor called for a statewide vote on whether to continue the practice, saying he was morally opposed to capital punishment and was convinced Oregon's death penalty system was broken.
Haugen is now challenging Kitzhaber's reprieve, arguing that the clemency is invalid because he didn't agree to it. A Marion County Circuit Court judge sided with Haugen, and the state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case next month.
Josh Marquis, the district attorney in Clatsop County and a vocal supporter of the death penalty in the most heinous cases, said the legal requirements to impose the death penalty in Oregon are extremely robust to ensure no innocent or improperly represented inmates are executed. The state spares no expense on defending death penalty cases, he said.
"It is rarely sought by prosecutors in Oregon, and it is even more rarely imposed. And I think that's the way it should be," Marquis said.
Oregon has 37 people on death row.
The state has a complex history with capital punishment. Voters have outlawed it twice and legalized it twice, and the state Supreme Court struck it down once. Voters most-recently legalized the death penalty in 1984, with 56 percent in favor of capital punishment.
Since then, the state has executed two people, both during Kitzhaber's first stint as governor between 1995 and 2003. Both inmates, like Haugen, had volunteered for execution, waiving their appeals, and Kitzhaber said that he'd long regretted his decision not to block them.
"I do not believe that those executions made us safer, and certainly they did not make us nobler as a society," Kitzhaber said in announcing his reprieve for Haugen. "And I simply cannot participate once again in something I believe to be morally wrong."
Use the death penalty. The voters already have approved it. Keep it. Get rid of our governor, who takes his beliefs to decide the hell with the voters.
Death penalty should be a express lane..not a life choice...we let prisoners go do to over crowding? Penalty for cold blooded killing is a week to get your affairs in order because your going to die and not waste space and money..amen.
Does the victim get to repeal their death? Enough said.
Why should I support someone who kills someone else? I don't deserve being forced to take care of someone I want to see 6 feet under! This is why I hate what the governor has done. He needs to quit and let this state have a person "running" it that doesn't have to uphold the oath he took. Being governor is not being a doctor so he either needs to forget the oath or get out!
Keep It
Keep it!!! And start using it!!
Keep it
Keep it.
keep it..when people rape kill etc..they should be put down..just like they would do in the old days take them out back and hang them..eye for a eye.
Keep it. USE IT.
Keep it. As it is
They actually have men on death row who plead with the courts to go through with the death sentence already, rather than sit in prison for the rest of their lives! But Kitzhaber, feels that its morally wrong?? So its not morally wrong for a person to take the life of someone? And its morally wrong for the courts to determine that they are guilty and should be punished by death? That doesn't make much sense..
Omg...what are we here in Oregon...bunch of bleeding hearts....we are 3RD OR 4TH IN THE NATION for crime....and you want to slap everyones hands then expect the tax payer to pay for them....are you kidding? Leave the state constitutional alone. Work on how to control your spending.
Maybe all these people who are against the death penalty should pay for their care year after year.
We need to fish or cut bait. We have not used the death penalty since it was re-enacted except in a few cases where the murderer basically demanded it.
Bull. If a person is found guilty of killing and are sentenced to death-- kill them!!! Don't let them sit in jail or prison and make hard working people support them for the rest of their lives!!!
We need to bring back hang man lol
Kitzhaber is or was a doctor and therefore he has a moral obligation to uphold the duties of a doctor, but WE THE PEOPLE VOTED THE DEATH PENALTY IN AND NOW HE IS TRYING TO GET RID OF IT. We do not need to support these people who are convicted and sentenced to die, for the rest of their lives. They committed a crime against humanity by either premeditated murder or otherwise, just like the one in our town, and they need to pay the penalty for taking another human life. They had no problem in doing the killing and no remorse about doing it.
keep it and used when called for!
Keep it for sure ............
absolutely should be kept!
It should be kept and utilized when needed.
Keep it
NO
Keep it and use it!!!!