On June 29th, the Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 1013 by a vote of 17-10. It has been signed by the Senate President and House Speaker and is now awaiting the signature of Governor Brown.
Senate Bill 1013 addresses several injustices in Oregon’s death penalty law. It removes future dangerousness as factor for jury to determine when deciding on sentence of death. It also requires the State to prove beyond reasonable doubt that defendant should receive death sentence. In addition, SB 1013 redefines crime of aggravated murder and reclassifies current ways of committing aggravated murder as murder in the first degree.
Although SB 1013 does not repeal Oregon’s death penalty law, it is a step in the right direction!
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