Oregon death penalty repeal fails to make ballot
By BRAD CAIN, Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (August 2, 2000 10:30 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - State officials say a proposed repeal of Oregon's death penalty has failed to attract enough petition signatures to qualify for the Nov. 7 ballot.
The Elections Division said Wednesday supporters of the capital punishment ban turned in 81,458 valid signatures - about 7,500 fewer than the minimum needed to place the proposed constitutional amendment before voters this fall.
Arwen Bird, spokeswoman for the repeal campaign, said death penalty opponents likely will try again in 2002.
"We do not support killing someone to show that killing someone else is wrong," she said.
The measure - which would have made life without parole the most severe sentence for convicted murderers - was supported by Gov. John Kitzhaber and former Sen. Mark Hatfield, two of Oregon's most popular political figures.
Sister Helen Prejean - whose book is the basis of the movie "Dead Man Walking" - came to Oregon in February to help raise money for the effort.
Death penalty foes hoped the time was right to repeal capital punishment in Oregon because of questions raised nationwide about executions.
But an April poll for The Oregonian and KATU-TV indicated 66 percent of Oregonians remain opposed to abolishing capital punishment.
The state's last execution came in 1997. There are 25 men on Oregon's death row. The state attorney general's office has said the next execution likely will not take place for three to five years because of appeals.
Oregon voters historically are divided on the issue, twice repealing the death penalty since 1903 and twice reinstating it, most recently in 1984.
Had the petition drive succeeded, Oregon would have been the only state voting this fall on whether to ban capital punishment.
Earlier this year, Illinois' Republican Gov. George Ryan ordered a moratorium on executions while questions of fairness are examined. And in May, the New Hampshire Legislature voted to ban the death penalty, a decision vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen.
A Gallup poll this year showed that 66 percent of Americans favor the death penalty, a sizable majority, but the lowest percentage in a decade.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"We do not support killing someone to show that killing someone else is wrong," she said.[/quote]
Exactly what do they suggest we do then?
------------------
God, Guns and Guts made this country a great country!
By BRAD CAIN, Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (August 2, 2000 10:30 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - State officials say a proposed repeal of Oregon's death penalty has failed to attract enough petition signatures to qualify for the Nov. 7 ballot.
The Elections Division said Wednesday supporters of the capital punishment ban turned in 81,458 valid signatures - about 7,500 fewer than the minimum needed to place the proposed constitutional amendment before voters this fall.
Arwen Bird, spokeswoman for the repeal campaign, said death penalty opponents likely will try again in 2002.
"We do not support killing someone to show that killing someone else is wrong," she said.
The measure - which would have made life without parole the most severe sentence for convicted murderers - was supported by Gov. John Kitzhaber and former Sen. Mark Hatfield, two of Oregon's most popular political figures.
Sister Helen Prejean - whose book is the basis of the movie "Dead Man Walking" - came to Oregon in February to help raise money for the effort.
Death penalty foes hoped the time was right to repeal capital punishment in Oregon because of questions raised nationwide about executions.
But an April poll for The Oregonian and KATU-TV indicated 66 percent of Oregonians remain opposed to abolishing capital punishment.
The state's last execution came in 1997. There are 25 men on Oregon's death row. The state attorney general's office has said the next execution likely will not take place for three to five years because of appeals.
Oregon voters historically are divided on the issue, twice repealing the death penalty since 1903 and twice reinstating it, most recently in 1984.
Had the petition drive succeeded, Oregon would have been the only state voting this fall on whether to ban capital punishment.
Earlier this year, Illinois' Republican Gov. George Ryan ordered a moratorium on executions while questions of fairness are examined. And in May, the New Hampshire Legislature voted to ban the death penalty, a decision vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen.
A Gallup poll this year showed that 66 percent of Americans favor the death penalty, a sizable majority, but the lowest percentage in a decade.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"We do not support killing someone to show that killing someone else is wrong," she said.[/quote]
Exactly what do they suggest we do then?
------------------
God, Guns and Guts made this country a great country!
