Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber declared the state’s death penalty system “compromised and inequitable,” and said it will not happen again during his tenure in office. The Democratic governor felt guilt for the two men he allowed to be executed more than a decade ago, and vowed Tuesday to issue a reprieve for a man scheduled to die by lethal injection Dec. 6. “I simply cannot participate once again in something that I believe to be morally wrong,” Kitzhaber said in a statement.
Kitzhaber said his decision is not based out of compassion for inmates convicted of murder, but rather in the way the death penalty is handed out. Some death row inmates have committed similar crimes as those serving life sentences. Kitzhaber’s decision means the state temporarily joins the ranks of three others which have done away with capital punishment; New Jersey, New Mexico and Illinois.
