Death penalty foes seek public vote
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Death penalty opponents took their case to Oregon lawmakers Monday, imploring a state House committee to allow the public to vote on outlawing capital punishment.
The House Judiciary Committee took no action on the measure, which would ask voters in 2014 whether to amend the state constitution, making it illegal to execute anyone, including people already on death row.
"My plea today, as a citizen of Oregon, is do not kill in my name," said Aba Gayle of Silverton, whose 19-year-old daughter, Catherine Blount, was murdered in 1980. "And most importantly of all, do not tarnish the name of my beautiful daughter with another senseless killing."
Her daughter's killer, Douglas Mickey, is on death row in California.
Terri Hakim disagrees. She doesn't want to see any benefits for the father and son convicted of planting a bomb that killed her husband, Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Bill Hakim, at a Woodburn Bank in 2008.
Bruce and Joshua Turnidge should not be be let into the general prison population, where they might teach bomb-making techniques and anti-police ideologies to other inmates who will eventually be freed, Hakim said.
"This resolution is not a benefit for the people of the State of Oregon," Hakim told lawmakers. "This is only enabling prisoners with more rights while taking them away from other victims."
Death penalty critics arrived at their position for a variety of reasons. Some are morally opposed to the government taking someone's life. Others say it costs too much, or that the risk of executing an innocent person is too high.
"There is one way I know of for sure to prevent the execution of an innocent person," said Jeff Ellis, a defense attorney and death penalty critic. "That is to replace the death penalty with life without parole."
The Department of Corrections doesn't know how much extra it costs to house inmates on death row, spokeswoman Elizabeth Craig said. The Office of Public Defense Services estimated in 2011 that it would save $2.6 million a year if death was not a possible sentence for aggravated murder.
Oregon has 37 people on death row. Two men have been executed since Oregon voters reinstated the death penalty in 1984, both of whom waived their right to appeal their case.
Gov. John Kitzhaber wrote a letter supporting a public vote on the death penalty, saying he's personally opposed to the death penalty and "Oregon has an expensive and unworkable system that fails to meet basic standards of justice."
"The hard truth is that in the (29) years since Oregonians reinstated the death penalty, it has only been carried out on two volunteers who waived their rights to appeal," Kitzhaber wrote.
Kitzhaber issued a reprieve for Gary Haugen, who was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in December 2011. At the time, the governor called for a public vote on the issue. Haugen is appealing the reprieve, saying it's invalid because he never agreed to accept it.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
What ever happened to the good ol' days when we sat the murdering scum in old sparky, and "oops" forgot to dampen the sponge if the scum was overtly repenting of nothing with only a grin on his face.
Lethal injection is too easy.
In the past, when innocent people (primarily black males) were given the death penalty, I was against it. But, now if and when we can determine more precisely who is most definitely guilty, I am for the death penalty. Not just for murder, but for: rape, assault that maims another person for life, child molesters, drug dealers to children, chronic tweekers, human traffickers for sex/labor slavery, and even financial fraudsters like Madoff and the like.Â
so what happens when we vote yes once again ? the govonor will still not allow them to happen. in my opinion there are some crimes that people just need to be put to death and not allow to burden the tax payers one more day past conviction. murders rapists and child molesters would be walked out the back door of the court house and shot in the back of the head imediately after convitcion  in my perfect worldÂ
Absolutely support the death penalty! Need to see it actually happen more!! Save us all money.
This is straight out of the progressives playbook most of us can site a dozen or more times when a vote by the people has been Ignored,repealed or deemed illegal by a Leftist judge or in our case our Governor. We vote over and over until the democrats get the result they want then they tell us this is what the people voted for. They wear you down until you just give up! I still cannot understand why democrats won't kill a child rapist or a  murderer but don't think twice about killing an unborn child in the womb even into the 3RD Trimester.
If you don't like it big john resign and move on to your big buddies back east.
Alright we will vote again and make it clear. EXECUTE !!!
I support the death penalty. I do not support these leaches on our tax money. Money that could be better spent in apprehending and treating these individuals before they are able to do something irreversible. A prick with a needle is far cheaper than feeding, clothing, and sheltering these criminals for the rest of their lives.
Looks pretty clean, compared to what most victims face when someone is killing them. Probably pretty pain free other than the prick of a needle, probably way less than most victims suffer when they are being killed. Bodies aren't mutilated, like lots of bodies of victims when they are killed. I personally do not believe in the death penalty, however I would abstain from voting due to the fact that I could not administer the death penalty and therefore would not ask someone else to do what I would not be willing to do. That said if the people voted for the death penalty, that is as it should be. The Governor swore to uphold the constitution and to Govern the state in which the people said there would be a death penalty. He should not have gone against the vote of the people, he accepted their vote to get into office. Now the age old tactic, they have majorities in all parts of Government so they will attempt to impose there will on everyone. That is the Progressive way.