Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Contact
Information |
Website: www.oadp.org
Address: Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, P.O. Box 361, Portland, OR 97207-0361
Contact: Clarence Pugh
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Death
Penalty
Statistics |
| Executions since 1976 | 2 |
| Executions before 1976 | 122 |
| Innocent people freed from Death Row | 0 |
| Number on Death Row Now | 35 people |
| Location of Death Row (men) | Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem |
| Location of Death Row (women) | |
| Crimes Eligible for the Death Penalty | Aggravated Murder with 18 aggravating circumstances. |
| Last Three Executions | Harry Charles Moore: May 16, 1997
Douglas Franklin Wright:September 6, 1996
Leroy Mogauhey: August 20, 1962
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Oregon has one of the smaller death rows among the states but is poised to begin executing inmates who have not volunteered by relinquishing their appeals. The first have progressed to their federal appeals and Oregon’s death penalty law will now be tested by the federal courts.
Oregon’s current death penalty law has had an uneven history, with several changes and “fixes” over the years. The resulting delays and resentencings have created much uncertainty as to whether the law can withstand judicial scrutiny. An authoritative book on Oregon’s death penalty is: A Tortured History: The Story of Capital Punishment in Oregon. William R. Long.
Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty existed from 1984 through 2001 as The Oregon Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Two issues of importance in Oregon:
Innocence:
While no innocent persons are yet proven to have been sentenced to death in Oregon, five innocents have been sentenced for aggravated murder, with one of them having pled guilty in order to avoid a death penalty trial. Issues in proving their innocence included false accusations which were believed by the authorities, faulty and incompetent forensic work, problems with language interpretation, and coercion.
Cost: Incomplete estimates are that the death penalty costs at least $9 million per year, meaning Oregon has spent no less than $171 million on the death penalty, in year 2000 dollars, over the 19 years since the first death sentenced individuals were charged. This is taxpayers’ money that could have been spent on family support, better policing, corrections programs, and a myriad of ways that would reduce violent crime and provide for a safer society.
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