Oregon Governor Says He Will Block Executions

[alp227]

Source: NYT

Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon on Tuesday said he would halt the execution of a death row inmate scheduled for next month and that he would allow no more executions in the state during his time in office.

“It is time for Oregon to consider a different approach,” Gov. Kitzhaber, a Democrat elected last fall, said in remarks delivered in Salem on Tuesday afternoon. “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.”

Oregon, which uses lethal injection, has executed just two people since its voters approved the death penalty in 1984, and both of those inmates waived certain rights to appeal, making them so-called volunteers. The state, which has 37 inmates on death row, last executed someone in 1997. It has been one of seven states that the Death Penalty Information Center had considered to have an effective moratorium on the death penalty. But Oregon’s status appeared likely to change after Gary Haugen, a twice-convicted murderer, waived several appeals and asked to be executed.

Mr. Haugen, convicted of killings in 1981 and in 2003, has testified that the death penalty wastes taxpayer money and called the justice system unfair. But in a court appearance in October, he said, “This is going to be one time where I just don’t do a lot of talking, because I’m ready, your honor. Because I’m ready.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/us/oregon-executions-to-be-blocked-by-gov-kitzhaber.html

[Ezlivin]

1. They'll regret it

Here in Texas we have no murders, ever, thanks to the death penalty.

Keep killin' 'em and stop 'em killin'. It's why Texas is a role model for the rest of the nation.

[alp227]

2. Really? The DP deters crime?

How much did Rick Perry pay you to parrot Republican talking points here?

[PSPS]

4. I'm sure it's sarcasm.

[elocs]

10. It's obviously sarcasm, but some people just don't get it unless you point it out. n/t

[SkyDaddy7]

14. I know! It is kinda funny to watch though! LOL!

[nineteen50]

3. So what you are saying is

the only way to keep people from killing people is to kill
people?

[ET Awful]

12. Logic dictates it. If you simply kill everyone, nobody will kill anybody anymore.

See how it works?

[wxgeek7]

5. Hmmm, are you sure....

According to http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state#MRord

Texas has about 5-6 murders per 100,000, and is ranked 18th highest.

And you'll also notice by looking at that table ranking, that most of the bottom half (i.e. lowest rankings) are states WITHOUT the death penalty.

[tularetom]

7. Wait a minute

If they don't have any murders in Texas, WTF do they keep frying all those people for?

(BTW even though you may not think the :sarcasm: thingy is necessary, in my experience it usually is).

[Bjorn Against]

6. This is great news

I hope more Governors will follow Kitzhaber's lead, the killing of an innocent man in the Troy Davis case is just one of the many reasons why the death penalty needs to be abolished

[WheelWalker]

8. I support this courageous decision by an enlightened leader.

Call me simple, but I have never been able to understand why a society would kill people to show people that killing people is wrong.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. So happy to hear this

nt

[datadiva]

11. Good job Governor Kitzhaber

I love it when elected officials do the right thing. :)

[Ruffhowse]

13. Bravo Gov. Kitzhaber!!!!

[ooglymoogly]

15. How clear the bells of sanity ring. Goodonya Gov....nt

[Peace Patriot]

16. Wow! Kudos to Gov. Kitzhaber for Oregon joining the civilized world!

Now, how about the rest of the United States?

-----

Fascism (welding together of government and corporations), unjust war (the callous slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent "foreigners" to steal their oil), crammed prisons (filled mostly with poor people, on long sentences, for non-violent crimes such as drug possession or petty theft), privatized prisons (slave labor; jailing people for profit), slashing public services while the rich get richer, high level crime (--mass murder, torturing prisoners, grand theft on a mind-boggling scale, by the elite--), militarized police forces, corrupt, murderous, failed programs like the "war on drugs," war profiteering and misery profiteering on every hand and now, casual cruelty and brutality toward peaceful protestors who oppose poverty and unfairness (starting in '99/Seattle, really, but just being noticed by the corporate press because some of THEM got brutalized)--all echo the uncivilized act of state execution.

Ever notice how it didn't matter and still doesn't matter how many innocent people the U.S. slaughtered in Iraq? That has stuck in my mind as the symbol of what our country has become. The warmongers didn't even bother to count them. They didn't care. They still don't. Now the U.S. is casually murdering people with drone bombers in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Colombia and other places. Merely blips in the 'news,' if that. Ten, twenty more people blown off the face of the earth, week after week--no trial, nothing. And no discussion. To me, the execution of Troy Davis was the reiteration of our descent into fascism. Our leaders DON'T CARE who they kill! It is a matter of no moment to them. They want and need to be able to KILL anybody they wish, with impunity. And that horror of U.S. policy has come home. Troy Davis' execution says it all.

The vast immorality of our corporate rulers, war profiteers and rich elite is summed up by that state murder of an innocent man. Nobody did anything! From the heinous Georgian officials to the scaredy cat White House, from the callous prison guards and lethal injectors to the Bushwhack-appointed Supreme Court. Nobody cared that an innocent man was being murdered! NOBODY in officialdom CARED!

We have crossed a line. The fascists' trump card, the "war on terror" (i.e., impunity for murder) has come home!

I am very glad to see at least one public official--Gov. Kitzhaber--acknowledge that he is not God and none of us are God. We can NEVER KNOW FOR SURE whether or not we are murdering an innocent person or a redeemed person and, even if we could know, the cold-blooded murder of prisoners, by its very nature, is immoral. From Abu Ghraib to here. From U.S. torture dungeons around the world, to here. From the bloodfest of drone bombings, to here. From the horrendous slaughter of tens of thousands of innocents in Iraq, to the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man in Georgia, this psychosis at the top--fascism--has bared its teeth inside our country.

Thank you, Gov. Kitzhaber, for having a conscience! But where are all the rest?