Gov. Kate Brown Commutes the Sentences of Oregon’s 17 Death-Row Prisoners

Calling the death penal­ty ​“both dys­func­tion­al and immoral,” Oregon Governor Kate Brown (pic­tured) has com­mut­ed the death sen­tences of the 17 pris­on­ers on the state’s death row. The com­mu­ta­tions, which the gov­er­nor announced on December 13, 2022, went into effect December 14 and resen­tenced the pris­on­ers to life without parole.

Brown’s com­mu­ta­tions are the cul­mi­na­tion of what she char­ac­ter­ized as ​“the near abo­li­tion of the death penal­ty” by the state leg­is­la­ture in 2019. At that time, Oregon amend­ed its death-penal­ty statute to sig­nif­i­cant­ly lim­it the crimes for which cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment can be imposed. In 2021, the Oregon Supreme Court over­turned the death sen­tence of David Ray Bartol, find­ing that it vio­lat­ed the pro­hi­bi­tion on ​“dis­pro­por­tion­ate pun­ish­ments” in the Oregon con­sti­tu­tion. Experts and advo­cates said at the time that the ratio­nale for that deci­sion made it like­ly that every death sen­tence in the state would be over­turned as a result of the 2019 law.

Oregon has had a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions since 2011, when then-Governor John Kitzhaber announced he would halt exe­cu­tions. The state’s last exe­cu­tion was in 1997. Upon tak­ing office in 2015, Brown said she would main­tain the mora­to­ri­um. In 2020, after the new death penal­ty law went into effect, Oregon closed its death-row facil­i­ty and moved death-row pris­on­ers into the gen­er­al prison pop­u­la­tion, mark­ing anoth­er step in the dis­man­tling of the state’s cap­i­tal punishment system. 

In her state­ment announc­ing the com­mu­ta­tions, Brown called the death penal­ty ​“an irre­versible pun­ish­ment that does not allow for cor­rec­tion; is waste­ful of tax­pay­er dol­lars; does not make com­mu­ni­ties safer; and can­not be and nev­er has been admin­is­tered fair­ly and equi­tably.” She said the com­mu­ta­tions were ​“con­sis­tent” with the legislature’s effort to func­tion­al­ly end the death penalty.

Brown is the third Oregon gov­er­nor to com­mute death sen­tences. In 1964, fol­low­ing a ref­er­en­dum in which Oregon vot­ers approved a bal­lot ques­tion repeal­ing the state’s death penal­ty law, Gov. Mark Hatfield com­mut­ed the sen­tences of every­one then on death-row. Previously, Gov. Robert D. Holmes had com­mut­ed every death sen­tence that was imposed dur­ing his term in office from 1957 – 1959.

The 17 com­mu­ta­tions are the only clemen­cies that have been grant­ed to death-row pris­on­ers in 2022. Brown is the sev­enth broad grant of clemen­cy to death-row pris­on­ers by a gov­er­nor in the last 50 years, and the sec­ond largest. On January 10 and 11, 2003, Illinois Gov. George Ryan par­doned four death-row pris­on­ers and com­mut­ed the sen­tences of 167 oth­ers, clear­ing Illinois’ death row. Five oth­er gov­er­nors exer­cised their clemen­cy pow­ers to com­mute the death sen­tences of every death-row pris­on­er in their states: Gov. Pat Quinn com­mut­ed the death sen­tences of the 15 pris­on­ers on Illinois’ death row when he signed the bill that prospec­tive­ly abol­ished the death penal­ty in 2011. Gov. Jon Corzine com­mut­ed the death sen­tences of the eight pris­on­ers on New Jersey​’s death row in 2007, the day before he signed the bill that abol­ished the state’s death penal­ty. Gov. Toney Anaya com­mut­ed the death sen­tence of the five pris­on­ers on New Mexico​’s death row in 1986. In 2015, Gov. Martin O’Malley com­mut­ed the death sen­tences of the four pris­on­ers still on Maryland​’s death row after the legislature’s prospec­tive abo­li­tion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in 2013. Gov. Jared Polis com­mut­ed the death sen­tences of the three pris­on­ers still on Colorado​’s death row after the legislature’s prospec­tive abo­li­tion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in 2020. 

Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste com­mut­ed the death sen­tences of 8 death-row pris­on­ers just before leav­ing office in 1991.

Brown has served the max­i­mum two terms as gov­er­nor per­mit­ted under Oregon’s con­sti­tu­tion and will leave office in January 2023. Her suc­ces­sor, Tina Kotek, has said she is also opposed to the death penal­ty, and would main­tain the mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions in the state.

The 17 peo­ple whose death sen­tences were commuted are:

• Jesse Compton
• Clinton Cunningham
• Randy Guzek
• Gary Haugen
• Michael Hayward
• Robert Langley Jr.
• Christian Longo
• Ernest Lotches
• Michael McDonnell
• Marco Montez
• Horacio Reyes-Camarena
• Ricardo Serrano
• Matthew Thompson
• Bruce Turnidge
• Joshua Turnidge
• Michael Washington Jr.
• Tara Zyst