Governor Kitzhaber puts hold on Oregon executions
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November 25, 2011
Oregon: On November 22, Governor John Kitzhaber cited his constitutional authority and issued a reprieve in the case of death row inmate Gary Haugen, temporarily preventing his execution. The governor announced he will prevent the execution of any death row inmates while he remains in office.[1][2]
In the governor's November 22nd press release he discusses Oregon's turbulent relationship with the death penalty and how it on seven different occasions changed the law either repealing or allowing the death penalty. The governor emphasizes that he has no sympathy for the criminals who commit such horrible acts, but believes the death penalty remains an unjust and unfair method.[1]
- "The death penalty as practiced in Oregon is neither fair nor just; and it is not swift or certain." and "...the nature of their crimes was not different from other murderers, some of whom are sentenced to death but never executed and others who are sentenced to life in prison. What distinguished those two death row inmates during my first term was that they volunteered to die."[1] -Governor John Kitzhaber
Reaction
The governor also expressed his concern for the victim's family saying, "My heart goes out to them," and "Unquestionably this decision will delay the closure that they deserve."[2]
Ard Pratt, the ex-husband of inmate Haugen's victim, said the governor's decision was wrong and that he was devastated. He said that it was "...a miscarriage of justice."[2]
Inmate Gary Haugen's attorney has yet to talk with his client, but expects Haugen to also be disappointed. Haugen was committed to going through with the execution.[2]
- Read Governor Kitzhaber's November 22, 2011 Press Release: Governor Kitzhaber issues reprieve
History of Death Penalty in Oregon
The Oregon Constitution initially contained no death penalty provision, but it was adopted in 1864 as a penalty for first degree murder.[3][4] There are currently 37 inmates on Oregon's Death Row.[5]
- 1864: Death Penalty adopted by statute
- 1903: Executions formerly allowed to be conducted by the county sheriff are now exclusive to State Penitentiary, in an attempt to restrict public attendance
- 1904: The first man hanged at the Oregon State Penitentiary
- 1912: Governor Oswald West allows four men to be executed at once
- 1914: Voters repeal the death penalty with 50.04 percent of the vote
- 1920: Voters reinstate the death penalty with 56 percent of the vote
- 1948: The last man hanged in Oregon before the state switches to lethal gas
- 1961: The first woman sentenced to die. Later her sentence along with two others is commuted in 1964 by Governor Mark Hatfield
- 1962: The last use of lethal gas in an execution
- 1964: Voters repeal the death penalty with 60 percent of the vote
- 1978: Voters re-enact the death penalty with 64 percent of the vote
- 1981: Oregon Supreme Court deems the death penalty unconstitutional
- 1984: Voters reinstate the death penalty with 55 percent of the vote
- 1996: The first use lethal injection in an execution
- 1997: The most recent execution in Oregon[6][2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Governor Kitzhaber Press Release, November 22, 2011
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Pacific Northwest News "Gov. John Kitzhaber stops executions in Oregon, calls system 'compromised and inequitable'," November 22, 2011
- ↑ State v. Quinn, 290 Or. 383, 623 P.2d. 630 (1981), citing C. Carey, THE OREGON CONSTITUTION AND PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1857, 401,404, 448, 456 (1926).
- ↑ Deady, GENERAL LAWS OF OREGON, 1843-1872, 516 (1874).
- ↑ List of Oregon's Death Row inmates as of June 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ oregon.gov, "History of Capital Punishment in Oregon,"
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