‘DYSFUNCTIONAL AND IMMORAL’

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Commutes Sentences of All 17 Death Row Inmates

The outgoing Gov. Kate Brown also ordered the state execution chamber dismantled.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday that she planned to commute the sentences of all 17 people on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Brown has less than a month remaining in her term after winning re-election to the governor’s office in 2018, will use her executive clemency powers in the order, which is expected to take effect Wednesday. She also ordered the dismantling of the state execution chamber, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. “I have long believed that justice is not advanced by taking a life, and the state should not be in the business of executing people—even if a terrible crime placed them in prison,” Brown said in a statement. “Since taking office in 2015, I have continued Oregon’s moratorium on executions because the death penalty is both dysfunctional and immoral.” She explained that the commutations aligned with a death penalty moratorium enacted by her predecessor, Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber, in 2011. State Republicans slammed Brown’s decision on Tuesday, with Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp saying in a statement that the governor “continues to disrespect victims of the most violent crimes.”