News

Calling Oregon death penalty ‘costly and immoral,’ governor signs bill limiting its use

Submitted by OADPEditor on Fri, 08/02/2019 - 5:44am

Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday signed a bill that represents the first major legislative restriction to Oregon’s death penalty since 1984, when voters amended the constitution to include capital punishment.

“Our state’s criminal justice system continues to impose death sentences, and send people to death row, even as we know that no one has been executed here in a generation,” said Brown, according to prepared remarks released by her office.

Gazette Times: Editorial: Legislature goes almost all the way on death penalty

Submitted by OADPEditor on Thu, 07/04/2019 - 11:51pm

Gazette Times: Editorial: Legislature goes almost all the way on death penalty

Jul 3, 2019 It was probably inevitable, considering the dramatic way that the last couple of weeks of the legislative session played out. With so much focus on the Republican senators' walkout and the death of the cap-and-trade bill, a number of relatively high-profile measures were passed that normally would have earned more attention.

Oregon Senate passes SB 1013

Submitted by OADPEditor on Tue, 05/21/2019 - 7:30pm
The Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 1013 this mornig. It removes future dangerousness as factor for jury to determine when deciding on sentence of death,  The vote was 1809. See this measure in OLIS  https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB1013?pubDate=2019-05-21-11-39 The bill now goes to the Oregon House, which has scheduled a first reading for Tomorrow May 21st.

Oregon Senate to Vote on SB 1013 Today

Submitted by OADPEditor on Tue, 05/21/2019 - 5:43pm

Today, Tuesday May 21, at 11:00 AM the Oregon Senate will read, debate and vote on the OADP supported bill to "reduce the use" of the death penalty, with Senate Bill 1013.

If you can, please alert your senator to let them know you support SB 1013 to reduce the use of the death penalty as a step towards repeal. 

Oregon death row inmate’s conviction overturned by Appeals Court

Submitted by OADPEditor on Fri, 05/03/2019 - 4:01am

Posted May 1, 2019

The Oregon Court of Appeals this week overturned the conviction and death penalty sentence of a 54-year-old inmate
accused in the 1998 fatal stabbing of another inmate in a prison recreation yard.

The ruling found that David Lee Cox, who was sentenced to death in 2000, received ineffective counsel.

2018 Marked the Fourth Consecutive Year with Fewer than 30 Executions and Less than 50 Death Sentences

Submitted by OADPEditor on Tue, 12/25/2018 - 5:37am
(Washington, D.C.) With 25 executions and 42 death sentences expected this year, the use of the death penalty remained near historic lows in 2018, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). 2018 marked the fourth consecutive year with fewer than 30 executions and 50 death sentences, reflecting a long-term decline of capital punishment across the United States.

Catechism revision adds impetus in death penalty abolition fight

Submitted by OADPEditor on Tue, 12/25/2018 - 5:19am

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Changes in law and public opinion have had their role to play in the quest to end capital punishment in the United States, but Catholic teaching also has played a part, according to Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Washington ruling on the death penalty energizes Oregon movement

Submitted by OADPEditor on Mon, 11/12/2018 - 3:08am

Tuesday, November 6, 2018 Oregon’s back and forth

Capital punishment is now legal in Oregon. It has come and gone.

The first execution under the territorial government was in 1851. Capital punishment was made explicitly legal by statute in 1864, and executions have been carried out exclusively at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem since 1904.

Oregonian: In the crosshairs of conscience: John Kitzhaber's death penalty reckoning

Submitted by OADPEditor on Tue, 05/08/2018 - 5:42am
To cope with his dread, John Kitzhaber opened his leather-bound journal and began to write. It was a little past 9 on the morning of Nov. 22, 2011. Gary Haugen had dropped his appeals. A Marion County judge had signed the murderer's death warrant, leaving Kitzhaber, a former emergency room doctor, to decide Haugen's fate. The 49-year-old would soon die by lethal injection if the governor didn't intervene.  Read More  

DPIC Year End Report: U.S. Sees Second Fewest Death Sentences and Executions in 25 Years

Submitted by OADPEditor on Thu, 12/21/2017 - 6:17pm
Death Penalty Information Center Logo

Public Support for Death Penalty Drops to 45-Year Low as Four More Death-Row Prisoners Exonerated in 2017   

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