Today's Oregonian publishes the OpEd, "We shouldn't execute Gary Haugen until we finish the death penalty debate." It's by Jeffrey Ellis, director of the Oregon Capital Resource Center.
It is not time to give Haugen "a date with the executioner," because we are not "allowing" Haugen to die. We are considering whether we want to continue killing people in all of our names. When we execute a human being, we do it in all of our names. It's our choice, not his. When Kitzhaber declared the moratorium, he did so consistent with the power granted to him by the people through the Oregon Constitution. The ruling by Marion County Circuit Judge Timothy Alexander takes that power from the people. His ruling would require us to execute someone who we all agreed was not even eligible for the death penalty. The Oregonian was wrong to endorse such a flawed and dangerous decision.
It's time to begin the death penalty debate in earnest. Haugen will need to wait until we Oregonians have finished our discussion at the ballot box.
"Governor right to stop executions, coalition says." is the Catholic Sentinel news report.
"A coalition opposing the death penalty says Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber used his powers appropriately when he declared a moratorium on executions last year.
The question arose last week when Circuit Court Judge Timothy Alexander ruled that an Oregon death row inmate can refuse the reprieve given by the governor.
Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, which includes leaders of the Archdiocese of Portland, expressed disappointment with Alexander's decision and predicted it would be overturned on appeal to a higher court.
Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty advocates for life without the possibility of parole as a means of keeping the public safe and dealing with those convicted of aggravated murder.
"As a public policy, the death penalty fails on the basis that money is spent with the expectation that some good will be derived by the citizens of the state," says Ron Steiner, the organization's chairman and a member of Queen of Peace Parish in Salem. "There is no public good derived from an execution. The death penalty is a failed public policy and should be voted out by the people."
When Kitzhaber said he would not allow executions on his watch, he also called for a “long overdue debate on the death penalty” and urged the Legislature and the people to fix it.
"When all the facts are known, it becomes difficult to defend the death penalty system in Oregon," Steiner says.
Earlier coverage from Oregon begins at the link.
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