Today's Oregonian reports, "Inmate Gary Haugen wages legal challenge to Gov. Kitzhaber's execution reprieve." It's by Helen Jung.
Death-row inmate Gary Haugen is to appear in court Tuesday morning to once again fight for his right to be executed.
He and his lawyer are expected to urge a judge to declare Gov. John Kitzhaber's reprieve of Haugen's execution, which had been planned for last December 6, invalid.
The challenge has been in the works ever since Kitzhaber announced last November that he would not allow Haugen -- or any other death-row inmate -- to be executed so long as he is governor. Kitzhaber noted his moral opposition to capital punishment and called for a statewide debate over the death penalty.
In court filings, Haugen's attorney Harrison Latto argues that Kitzhaber's reprieve is invalid because it does not meet the legal definition of a reprieve. Haugen has not accepted the reprieve, Latto argues, and it lasts for an indefinite amount of time.
And:
But the state attorney general's office insists in filings that the governor is well within his constitutional powers and that the court does not have the authority to review the reasons for the governor's reprieve.
The state counters that unconditional reprieves do not require acceptance by the recipient and that the time period is definite -- the duration of Kitzhaber's term as governor.
The hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. in Marion County Circuit Court. It continues more than a year of legal proceedings since Haugen first waived his legal appeals last May and agreed to be executed.
The AP filing is, "Oregon death row inmate fighting reprieve," via the Daily Astorian.
Haugen wants to proceed to the death sentence he was given five years ago after he was convicted of the 2003 killing of a fellow inmate. Haugen was serving a life sentence at the time for a 1981 murder.
Oregon has executed two people since voters reinstated the death penalty in 1984. Kitzhaber has said there would be no executions as long as he is governor.
Earlier coverage from Oregon begins at the link.
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