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Killing to prove that killing is wrong does not make any sense. This is why the United States is the ONLY
western industrialized nation which murders prisoners in the name of "justice."


CNN) -- Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber blocked the execution of a death row inmate on Tuesday and said no more executions will take place in the state as long as he is governor.

He issued a temporary reprieve in the case of Gary Haugen, who was reportedly scheduled to be put to death next month.

 "It is time for Oregon to consider a different approach. I refuse to be a part of this compromised and inequitable system any longer; and I will not allow further executions while I am governor," he said in a statement.

 Oregon has 37 inmates on death row, some of whom have been there for more than 20 years. Kitzhaber did not commute their sentences, he said, because: "The policy of this state on capital punishment is not mine alone to decide." He urged lawmakers to bring potential reforms before the 2013 legislative session.

Gov. John Kitzhaber stops executions in Oregon, calls system 'compromised and inequitable'


http://impact.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/print.html?entry=/2011/11/gov_john_kitzhaber_stops_all_e.html

SALEM -- Gov. John Kitzhaber announced today he will not allow the execution
of Gary Haugen -- or any death row inmate -- to take place while he is in
office.

The death penalty is morally wrong and unjustly administered, Kitzhaber
said.

The governor cited his constitutional authority to grant a temporary
reprieve for Haugen, in effect canceling the planned Dec. 6 lethal injection
of the twice-convicted murderer. Haugen waived his legal appeals and has
been preparing for the execution, which would have been Oregon's first in 14
years.

The change of heart comes as a surprise for a governor who twice before --
in his first term as governor -- allowed executions to go forward. Despite
his personal opposition to the death penalty, Kitzhaber said he was
upholding the will of the people in allowing the 1996 execution of Douglas
Franklin Wright and the 1997 execution of Harry Charles Moore.

"I have regretted those choices ever since," he wrote in a prepared
statement. "Both because of my own deep personal convictions about capital
punishment and also because in practice, Oregon has an expensive and
unworkable system that fails to meet basic standards of justice."

The announcement is a win for death penalty activists who had asked
Kitzhaber to declare a moratorium on executions until the state conducts a
thorough review of its death penalty system.

Kitzhaber said his decision is not out of compassion for Haugen or other
inmates. But the death penalty is not handed down fairly -- some inmates on
death row have committed similar crimes as those who are serving life
sentences, he said. It is a criticism Haugen himself has often made and
cites as a reason that he has volunteered to die, protesting the unfairness
of the death penalty.

In addition, Oregon only executes those who volunteer, Kitzhaber said,
calling the state's system "a perversion of justice."

While Oregon has ignored the problems in its death penalty system, Kitzhaber
noted that other states have abolished executions. Illinois, New Jersey and
New Mexico all have joined the ranks of states that no longer include
capital punishment as a sentencing option, recognizing the serious flaws and
high costs of maintaining the death penalty, he said.

Haugen's case is forcing the state to confront problems with the death
penalty, Kitzhaber said. The state needs to engage in a debate about
less-costly, more equitable alternatives, he said.

Kitzhaber supports adopting a sentence of life in prison without the
possibility of parole instead of capital punishment and will ask the state
Legislature to come up with possible reforms for the 2013 session.

The move comes a day after the Oregon Supreme Court cleared the way for
Haugen's execution. Kitzhaber declined to commute Haugen's sentence, saying
he believes the state must decide for itself on the need for a statewide
debate over capital punishment.

"I am convinced we can find a better solution that keeps society safe,
supports the victims of crime and their families and reflects Oregon
values," he wrote. "I refuse to be a part of this compromised and
inequitable system any longer; and I will not allow further executions while
I am Governor."

The Death Penalty in Oregon
1864: Legislature enacts death penalty by statute.
1904: Executions made exclusive to the Oregon State Penitentiary after being
done at police headquarters across the state.
1912: Gov. Oswald West allows four men to be executed at once, hoping the
gruesome spectacle will hasten abolition of the death penalty.
1914: Voters repeal the death penalty.
1920: Voters restore the death penalty.
1948: J. Willos is the last man hanged in Oregon before the state switches
to lethal gas.
1961: Jeannace Freeman becomes the first woman sentenced to die. Her
sentence is ultimately commuted in 1964 by Gov. Mark Hatfield.
1962: Leeroy McGahuey is the last man gassed to death.
1964: Voters repeal the death penalty.
1978: Voters re-enact the death penalty.
1981: Oregon Supreme Court deems the death penalty unconstitutional.
1984: Voters reinstate the death penalty.
1996: Douglas Franklin Wright becomes the first man executed by lethal
injection.
1997: Harry Charles Moore is the last man to be executed.
Number of people on death row today: 36

Max White
Country Specialist, Indonesia and Timor-Lesté
Amnesty International USA
9275 SW Westhaven Dr.
Portland Or 97225 USA
+1-503-292-8168
503-544-0690 cell