“Since taking office in 2015, I have continued Oregon’s moratorium on executions because the death penalty is both dysfunctional and immoral,” Brown added. “Today, I am commuting Oregon’s death row so that we will no longer have anyone serving a sentence of death and facing execution in this State. This is a value that many Oregonians share.”
Brown said that the decision is “not based on any rehabilitative efforts by the individuals on death row” but instead “reflects the recognition that the death penalty is immoral.”
“It is an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction; is wasteful of taxpayer dollars; does not make communities safer, and cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably,” she said.
“I also recognize the pain and uncertainty victims experience as they wait for decades while individuals sit on death row—especially in states with moratoriums on executions—without resolution,” she added. “My hope is that this commutation will bring us a significant step closer to finality in these cases.”
