SCOTUS Decision Lifts Death Penalty Moratorium; Oregon's Death Row Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Oregonians got a reminder yesterday that the state has a death penalty. In a 7 to 2 ruling the US Supreme Court held that lethal injection did not violate the 8th Amendment prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment." This ends a de-facto moratorium on the death penalty since last September when the Court took up Baze v. Reese. But the moratorium had no impact on Oregon, which has imposed death only twice in the past 32 years, and while almost 3 dozen are on death row, there are no scheduled executions.

Opinion polls show that about 65% of the public supports the death penalty, so the only surprise in yesterday's SCOTUS opinions is that Justice John Paul Stevens, who was one of the co-authors of the Supreme Court's 1976 decision which reinstated the death penalty, announced that he now believes capital punishment is unconstitutional.

A Willamette Week
cover story on January 8 of this year reported that since that U.S. Supreme Court case in 1976 allowing states to resume executions, Oregon has imposed it 2 times. Currently there are 35 men on death row (with cases in various stages of appeal) and no executions scheduled. The impasse is only part of a dysfunctional system which has overbuilt prisons, strained state and local budgets, and produced arguable results for public safety.

The 2008 race to replace Attorney General Hardy Myers has so far drawn only Democrats. The leading candidates in the Democratic primary do not make much of their positions on the death penalty on their websites. Candidate John Kroger has said that he supports the death penalty but will form a committee to consider options for reform, including possibly ending capital punishment in Oregon. Greg Macpherson has said he’s opposed to capital punishment but will leave any changes up to Oregon voters. Neither candidate seems eager to make much of the issue or the current problems in the system.