Oregon Governor Declares Moratorium on All Executions

In a state­ment released on Nov. 22, Governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon announced a halt to all exe­cu­tions in the state. ​“I am con­vinced we can find a bet­ter solu­tion that keeps soci­ety safe, sup­ports the vic­tims of crime and their fam­i­lies and reflects Oregon val­ues,” he wrote. ​“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.” His action halts the upcom­ing exe­cu­tion of Gary Haugen, an inmate who waived his appeals and was sched­uled to die on December 6. The gov­er­nor fur­ther stat­ed he act­ed, ​“Both because of my own deep per­son­al con­vic­tions about cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and also because in prac­tice, Oregon has an expen­sive and unwork­able sys­tem that fails to meet basic stan­dards of justice.”

The Oregon Supreme Court had reject­ed (4 – 3) a peti­tion that would have delayed the December 6 exe­cu­tion of inmate Gary Haugen (pic­tured) because of chal­lenges to his men­tal com­pe­ten­cy. The exe­cu­tion would be the state’s first in 14 years. Haugen was sen­tenced to death for the mur­der of a fel­low inmate and has dropped his appeals. Since 1976, 137 oth­er defen­dants have waived at least part of their appeals, account­ing for about 11% of exe­cu­tions. Haugen has said he is waiv­ing his appeals to protest what he described as the ​“abri­trary” and ​“vin­dic­tive” nature of the death penal­ty. The Oregon Supreme Court con­clud­ed that no legal errors were com­mit­ted by a Marion County judge who found Haugen men­tal­ly com­pe­tent to drop his appeals and be exe­cut­ed. The Oregon Capital Resource Center filed the peti­tion, say­ing that the low­er court had exclud­ed a report by neu­ropsy­chol­o­gist Muriel Lezak, who said that Haugen suf­fers from delu­sions and cog­ni­tive prob­lems. Haugen’s exe­cu­tion is the last exe­cu­tion cur­rent­ly sched­uled for 2011.

The dis­sent dis­agreed that the evi­dence con­cern­ing Haugen’s com­pe­ten­cy had been ful­ly reviewed. Judge Walters, with two oth­er judges join­ing, wrote, ​“Every day I trust that truth will be the vic­tor if the facts are sub­ject­ed to a fair adver­sary process. When I am assured that a fair process has been fol­lowed, I trust> the deci­sion of the judge or jury to such an extent that I can join my col­leagues in affirm­ing the sen­tence that results — even a death sen­tence that will be car­ried out, at least in part, in my name. But here, I have no such assur­ance, and I can nei­ther trust nor join.”

(H. Jung, ​“Gov. John Kitzhaber stops exe­cu­tions in Oregon, calls sys­tem ​‘com­pro­mised and inequitable,’ ” Oregonian, Nov. 22, 2011; A. Gustafson, ​“Oregon Supreme Court allows exe­cu­tion of Gary Haugen to move for­ward,” Oregon Statesman Journal, November 22, 2011; Oregon v. Haugen, Nov. 21, 2011 (Walters, J., dis­sent­ing). See also Volunteers and Oregon. Read the Governor’s full state­ment here.

UPDATE: In Oregon, a state judge has ruled that death row inmate Gary Haugen can reject the reprieve of his exe­cu­tion insti­tut­ed by Governor John Kitzhaber (pic­tured). The gov­er­nor’s office said an appeal is like­ly. (seat​tlepi​.com, Aug. 3, 2012). Read the court’s opin­ion.