Governor continues battle to keep death row inmate alive
SALEM, Ore. — An Oregon death row inmate and the state's governor are at the center of an unusual legal battle — the governor has granted the twice-convicted murderer a reprieve, even though the inmate did not ask for it and does not want it.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is appealing a judge's ruling that said that he has no authority to issue a reprieve from the death penalty for Gary Haugen, a condemned inmate who has rejected the governor's attempts to keep him alive.
A Kitzhaber spokesman said the governor will file a notice of appeal on Tuesday and ask the Oregon Court of Appeals to pass it up to the state Supreme Court.
A trial-court judge in Marion County ruled last month that convicted murderer Gary Haugen must accept a reprieve for it to be valid. Haugen had been scheduled to die by lethal injection last December when Kitzhaber stepped in and blocked it.
Kitzhaber opposes capital punishment and said he won't allow any executions while he is governor.
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Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
I have the misfortune of knowing some of these guys on death row due to the closeness of the Dairy Mart murderers' proximity to my home. If Kitzhaber wants them alive, prove your "Humanity" by inviting them to live in your neighborhood, or better yet, your house. Don't foist them back on us. We want them dead.
I commend all the previous posts.. all , are well said..
Kitzhaber needs to be fired. What an ass.
I am personally not an advocate of the death penalty. My reasoning is that I have never wanted to ask someone to do something I would not be willing to do myself, and I am not willing to kill any human being even though I may be outraged at the individual. Now after saying that, the people of this state voted for the death penalty. It was a bonifide election and the Governor should carry out the will of the people and the law, but you see Progressives don't care about the will of the people or the law if it does not fit their agenda. This state is basically run by three areas, the Portland Area, the Eugene Area, and the Corvallis area. What ever they decide is what is going to happen. If that same vote came up today the death penalty would likely be defeated. Governor Kitzhaber needs to do his job until such time as that happens.
This is the moron the people of Portland forced on us. How he got a single vote is a  mystery to me.
Get a clue, Kitzhaber: the inmate DOESNâT WANT A REPRIEVE!!! And as a taxpayer, you are just wasting MY tax dollars to fight this. I am tired of elected government officials wasting tax dollars and going against what the people that elected you want. Butt out, and let him be executed.
Voters voted FOR the death penalty. You, as elected official BY the People (US) are required by LAW to follow the law of the State of Oregon, regardless of your own opinions. To disregard the vote of the people, and the laws of the State, YOU are in violation of those laws, and should be fired on the spot.Â
Just because I donât believe in some laws of the state, I canât just defy them and ignore them, so you should not be able to, either. What gives you the right to disregard the law?