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."
"Â Other states are trying to abolish the death penalty... mine's putting in an express lane."
Ron White.There is one definite indisputable fact! No murderer given the death penalty has ever committed another murder! It is that fact alone that makes the death penalty worth keeping!
It is that fact that makes the best argument in favor of keeping, and using the death penalty!
Awful idea. The modern justice system is already way too lenient on violent criminals.
thou shalt not kill!  pretty basic.
@Pers RetireeÂ
Actually the correct translation is "Thou shalt not MURDER"
God HATES the shedding of innocent blood but He is also a JUST God and believes the punishment should fit the crime." Thus "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth..."Â
The death penalty needs to stay and be used more often. Doing away with the potential outcome like this is why our society has become so violent. Criminals know people are too tolerant and will only get a slap on the hand for crimes committed.
Want new gun control?Make it a death penalty offense for using a firearm in the commission of a crime â black & white!Criminalsâ¦you use a gun while committing a crime and the punishment will cost you your life; no 5-10 out in 3 with good behavior.
But then you need a governor with ba!!s to stand behind the punishment and cleanse society of the bad blood.
lets make a super gi-hugic deal over this that will drag on for years, but continue to allow cigarettes which we know will kill and is the single most preventable cause of death, to be legal.   so lets all debate the death penelty, abortion, obesity all the time!  forever!Â
By all means let us vote on it. And after the citizens of Oregon reaffirm Capital Punishment then let the governor stay his pardon pen for the rest of his term.
@Ironclad With that post you might prepare for replies like "step away from the crack pipe"  'get out of moms basement"  etc.  ok?  but not from me...i dont judge!
Not only do I support the death penalty, I think it needs to be used a lot more often. And in "clear cut" cases, a lot faster.
This should not even be considered unless it's considered by the votes of the people of this sate. The reason it's so expensive is because we have a state full of liberal panty waists who care more for criminals rights than the victims. Texas is executing maybe 6 death row inmates this month alone. Thats 6 that the people will not have to continue to pay for. IN Texas they have no TV, air conditioning, heat, (often in the summer they stand in their toilets to keep cool and in the winter the water in the toilets frost over. They get 2 hot meals a day and a peanut butter sandwich and a apple for lunch. They asked for it, and it's still much better than those who lost their lives to these killers. They spend on average 7 to 10 years on death row before their appeals run out. IN oregon they spend decades. at our expense Their death row inmate expense is $40 a day. In Oregon it's more like $120 a day. We have a governor that feels as if we did not really understand what we were voting in when we voted for the death penalty. We do not need a father figure who makes our decisions. We need a Governor that stands behind the voters choices no matter how vile he may find them. Thats why we elected him. If he don't, get rid of him.
How dare ORYGUN's Lawmakers stand-up against that very small Gubner with the huge Napoleonic Complex he has!!  It is about time that folks in congress and the senate get serious about putting this loser Gubner in his place. He is obviously an Omama lover and is willing to help divide this country and support whatever it takes while the criminal justice system crumbles. Wait a second, he will just veto anything that makes total sense, and I forgot that ORYGUN is his ER where he is GOD...
""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." Â As if *we* here in Oregon are simply copycats who don't think for our selves? Â Kotek, resign immediately.
"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."  That's true, prosecuting for the death penalty is indeed much more expensive than plea-bargaining. Â
But there are intangibles to consider as well.
I can not support a law that removes our ability to enforce capital punishment in those cases where it is warranted. Â Keep it on the books and avoid actually executing that sentence if we can, but I want it there for those cases SUCH AS HAUGEN who deserve it many times over.Â
@Umhal Sir, your last paragraph said it all in my humble opinion.Let us not forget about Dayton Leroy Rogers that I helped put in prison - Oregon's most prolific serial killer...
Our Gov. supports assisted suicide and abortion but not the death penalty, go figure.
@Bigfoot For those of us without an agenda, it makes perfect sense.  As for "death with dignity", until you or a loved one has been robbed of every ounce of dignity and quality of life from a debilitating disease such as ALS or Alzheimer's or MS, you don't get to call it "assisted suicide", k?  And as for abortion, it's a non-issue since it's been legal for over 40 years.  But it's just got to irk you that the vast majority don't thump their way through life like you.Â
@Sundowner @Bigfoot Well, here we are.
What Sundowner said.
I support the death penalty, assisted suicide and abortion. Justice, mercy and improvement of the species.
@Playanekes @Sundowner @Bigfoot We childproof the world but not the womb
as my people say...bashes to bashes..bust to bust.
I know alot of people are in favor of the DP. However, unless we can get them in a chair in 14 months or less and not spend more then 100K then that's ok. It costs about 2-3 million to execute someone and the cost of appeals keeps rising.
@disgustedman This is true. Most of the expense is in legal and government fees. Government agencies and lawyers make big money off of a death penalty appeal. Taxpayers just want to feel safe, and feel like there's a sense of justice for victims.Â
A death penalty repeal just in time for Obamacare's Death Panel installment.
@TimBurr Anyone who would publicly say they agree with Sarah Palin is.......yeppers, I don't even have to finish the sentence.
@Sundowner@TimBurrFor your selective reading habits.
http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/more-evidence-of-death-panels-in-obamacare/To date, 302 people have been exonerated as the result of The Innocence Project.  That's 302 reasons to repeal the death penalty.  Unless and until DNA testing is the "norm" for evidence in old cases, I believe a moratorium on the death penalty should be required nationwide. http://www.innocenceproject.org/
ok then but dont release them early or at all..I would support this except in child murders they get the chair,btw another bleeding heart lib idea get rid of the Chair and a nice painless needle...
@Nuclear-XÂ Wow, hahaha. That's crazy. I'm all gung-ho for the death penalty, but I don't think electrocution is the best method. The needle is far superior.
@Nuclear-XIs it? Â Is discontinuing using 'the chair' a bleeding heart lib idea? Â There remain a few states (Vermont, where the ONLY crime that warrants the death penalty is treason, plus a few other states) where the electric chair is an option, but it's the condemned's option. Â It is no longer used because the majority of states have determined it to be "cruel and unusual punishment" as defined by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution.
@Sundowner Yes, and if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit, right? In the American Justice System, there have been innocent people convicted. As well, there have been plenty of guilty people acquitted. Both are unfortunate; both a miscarriage of Justice. We still have one of the best Justice Systems in the World. I'm interested though, if any research has been done to examine how many of those 302 people that were deemed innocent and released really were innocent? Are there any, of the 302 people who are guilty, or culpable? Is anyone even looking at that?
Does the System need fixing? Yes. But, I believe that the DP should remain for that special class of folks who give up their rights to be alive by committing the most heinous of crimes. And it sounds like the people who protest the DP do so mainly because "what if they're innocent?" That's the true issue right there; guilty vs. innocent. This is what needs to be fixed. We need to make sure we're getting the guilt vs. innocence right from the get-go. The DP is not the problem. Let's not forget that our Justice System is about JUSTICE FOR ALL, which includes the victims of crime & society, not only Defendants.
@Ely I don't think it's true in Oregon or any of the western states, but once you hit Texas and east, the justice system still doesn't have a blindfold on.  There ARE executions that take place now (Texas, Florida) where the accused is denied the right to have DNA testing performed on old evidence.  As for those who have been exonerated, DNA testing has proven them not guilty....don't know what else needs to be said about that.
@Sundowner It is pertinent to note that the overwhelming majority of the 302 people exonerated as a result of The Innocence Project were NOT death row inmates but instead were prisoners with long term sentences due to a variety of cases like rape, robbery, ect.. The overwhelming majority of death row inmates are on death row for murder or multiple murders. The death penalty isn't put on the table at whim, even most murderers end up with life sentences, its there for the worst of the worst. Gary Haugen for instance, got a life sentence for murder and then killed again in prison! Christian Longo is another, a multiple murderer, his victims were his own children and family! With over 10 years to exhaust the appeals that automatically follow a death penalty conviction, I believe its a fair and just punishment. Christian Longo is the poster boy for the death penalty in Oregon, Gary Haugen just wants his just punishment, who are we to deny him that?Â
The Oregon Dictator and the Liberals have spoken....maybe they need to look at those who are on death row and have died on death row....Jerry Brudos and Dayton Leroy Rogers, and tell the voters of Oregon that these animals need not to be executed!!!
@Mark BÂ Lets not forget Christian Longo, perhaps in 20 yrs. or so he too can be "rehabbed" back into society. After all, his crimes were but a big misunderstanding, right?Â
I don't support the death penalty. No matter what the chances that this will pass, it should go on the 2014 ballot. If it passes, good. If not, the Governor should lift his reprieve and let the legal process go forward - the voters will have spoken.
@Max Quinn You haven't realized voters are just an opinion. It doesn't actually matter what we think, hence HB 3002....
If the criminals with death sentences want to die, then kill them. If the prisoners on death row don't want to die, well....execute them anyway. The amount of people on death row awaiting execution is a disgrace and disrespectful to victims. Fire up old smokey, sharpen up the needles, mix the gas, knot the rope, load the guns and lets have national light'em day and make a clean sweep of death row.
YES
WE NEED TO KEEP IT AND START USING IT! ENOUGH OF SALEM TELLING US HOW ITS GOING TO BE LIKE IT OR NOT....
Another bad decision about to be made by those fine folks in Salem. I think it needs to be put before the people for a vote, and then after the death penalty is upheld, the people on death row will have their sentences immediately carried out.
@theobserver You obviously didn't read the article.
There are 37 people in Oregon's death row.
Two people have been executed in Oregon since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1978
Two in 35 years! One every 18 years or so on average.
At that rate it would take 666 years to execute them all. (18 years X 37 inmates = 666)
Oregon is already basically a no death penalty state.
unless your are a very, very, very unlucky resident of death row,
Those pro death penalty: YOU'RE IN DENIAL
What exactly are you fighting for?
@Mipsfer Chit or get off the pot comes to mind.....
Kitzhaber talking about nobler? Yougot to be #@#%ing me!
Remember Tesslyn O'cull!!
No repeals for homicidal, sadistic psychopaths!! Jesse Compton MUST be executed!!
http://tesslynn-ocull.memory-of.com/About.aspx
The death penalty should not be repealed.Â
Christian Longo MUST be executed!! Tell The Governor that there should be no repeals, no organ donations, and no marriages for homicidal, narcissistic, psychopaths. So what if he wants to do good. He gave up his rights when he killed his family. Those children will never get a repeal; he should not either.
Christian Longo MUST be executed.
Abort future people and let the proven killers live? Seems backwards
The way that I look at it is what if one of my family members were murdered.I'm not much of a forgiving kind of guy.No peace and love s**t.Matter of fact,I would want revenge in the worst way.My first wish would be to have a advanced interrogation session with him before I shoot him in the head.Second option would have faith that justice system will come through with a death penalty sentence.
@noneofyourbizzness  Reality? The guy would walk after just a few. You could then proceed with option 1.
Kitzhaber is morally wrong in not supporting the death penalty. Â He is a coward and without a sense of justice.
@sortbait You DO realize that he was governor and signed the order when the last two people were executed in Oregon, right?  Was he a coward then?
@Sundowner @sortbait Maybe he was disappointed the coat hanger was not used
@Sundowner @sortbait Simple answer, Yes. The last two executions were both inmates that demanded they're appeal process end. In essence, Kitz did little more than grant his permission to let them proceed to the final step.Â
@Janusfree @sortbait No, blood lust to me is when the only thing that will satisfy you is to see another person dead.  Do these convicted killers deserve to live any kind of normal or decent life?  No.  But I just can't go along with killing someone because they killed someone.  It's totally illogical to me.  I won't argue it with you, it's how I feel.Â
@Sundowner @Janusfree @sortbait Blood lust? Is that what they call it if you don't sign on to every bleeding heart liberal cause to try and feel warm and fuzzy all over? Guilty.
@Janusfree @sortbait To say that any governor, in signing an execution order, does "little more than" anything seems pretty shallow.  But don't worry -- there will be another governor soon enough and you can get your blood lust on all you like.