Oregon Supreme Court Justice Martha Walters recently suggested that it is time to review the constitutionality of the death penalty. Concurring in Oregon v. Michael Davis, Justice Walters wrote, “When presented with the opportunity to do so, I urge this court to consider our state’s experience in imposing the death penalty and to examine its constitutionality anew.“ Justice Walters acknowledged that the death penalty has been upheld in the past, but noted that the times had changed and that other judges were also calling for a review: “Recently, jurists who had voted many times to affirm sentences of death have reassessed the constitutionality of the death penalty in light of their experiences with its administration and objective evidence of the evolving standards of decency.” She continued, “This court also has emphasized that the pull of precedent ‘is strong, but it is not exorable.’ The degree to which any opinion binds future tribunals ‘depends, of necessity, on [that opinion’s] agreement with the spirit of the times or the judgment of subsequent tribunals upon its correctness as a statement of the existing or actual law. The strength of the bond of an earlier ruling is directly proportionate to the moral and intellectual authority that continues to inform our understanding of that earlier holding.”
The full decision may be read here.
(Oregon v. Davis, No. CC 020633788; SC S053071, Dec. 31, 2008) (en banc) (Walters, J., concurring) (emphasis added). See New Voices.
