Today's Salem Statesman Journal reports, "Oregon Supreme Court asked to decide Haugen's refusal of reprieve." It's by Peter Wong. Here's an extended excerpt from the beginning:
Gov. John Kitzhaber asked the Oregon Supreme Court on Tuesday to decide whether convicted murderer Gary Haugen can refuse a reprieve from a death sentence.Kitzhaber issued the reprieve Nov. 22, but Haugen quickly sued, arguing that a reprieve — unlike a pardon or a commutation — must be accepted by Haugen before it is effective. On Aug. 3, Judge Timothy Alexander agreed, setting Haugen’s execution back on track.
In filing the appeal, Kitzhaber is asking that the case jump past the Court of Appeals and go straight to the Supreme Court.
“We’re confident the governor has the authority to issue a reprieve, and we look forward to getting clarity from the Supreme Court,” said Tim Raphael, Kitzhaber’s chief spokesman.
Haugen’s lawyer, Harrison Latto of Portland, agrees that the high court should take the case. The justices don’t have a deadline.
Alexander, a senior judge from Washington County assigned to the case, decided that Haugen has the legal right to reject the reprieve Kitzhaber issued. .
Alexander rejected the argument that the Oregon Constitution gives the governor broad authority in granting clemency.
Alexander based his decision on a pair of Oregon Supreme Court cases dating back nearly a century. Those decisions, in turn, adopted the reasoning from a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1833, although the federal court shifted direction in a 1927 case that the governor is relying on to uphold his clemency authority.
"Gov. Kitzhaber appeals decision in Gary Haugen execution case," by Helen Jung at the Oregonian.
Gov. John Kitzhaber is appealing a lower court's ruling that declared his reprieve of death-row inmate Gary Haugen's execution to be invalid.
Attorneys for Kitzhaber are asking the Oregon Court of Appeals, which would normally hear the challenge, to send the dispute directly to the state Supreme Court for consideration.
The appeal has been expected since last month's ruling by Senior Judge Timothy Alexander in Haugen's quest to be executed. The twice-convicted murderer waived his appeals last year and was preparing for his execution when Kitzhaber, who opposes capital punishment, issued the reprieve.Alexander, who died last week, agreed with arguments by Harrison Latto, Haugen's attorney, that Oregon court decisions established that the inmate had to accept the reprieve for it to be effective.
In Tuesday's filings, the attorneys argue for sending the case to the state supreme court, saying that the case wrestles solely with the scope of the governor's constitutional authority: Does the governor's death-sentence reprieve require acceptance by the inmate to be effective?
In addition, the legislature has granted the state Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction for handling certain death-penalty proceedings, showing its general preference that the state's highest court "determine the validity of a death sentence," the filing states.
And:
Under the certification process, a majority of judges on the Court of Appeals must vote to pass the case on to the state Supreme Court, according to Oregon Judicial Department spokesman Phil Lemman. Then a majority of the Supreme Court justices would have to vote to accept it and grant the request within 30 days of the appeals court's vote, he said.
"Ore. governor appeals court's death penalty ruling," is the AP filing, via KGW-TV.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is appealing a judge's ruling that he has no authority to issue a reprieve from the death penalty for a condemned inmate who has rejected the governor's clemency.A Kitzhaber spokesman says the governor will file a notice of appeal on Tuesday and ask the Oregon Court of Appeals to pass it up to the state Supreme Court.
And:
Kitzhaber opposes capital punishment and said he won't allow any executions while he is governor.
Earlier coverage from Oregon begins at the link.
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