'S D E A T H P E N A L T Y

THE FACTS 33 people currently on death row 2 executions since 1976 MORATORIUM

122 executions before 1976 On November 22, 2011, Jury decides the sentence Governor Life without parole is a sentencing option declared a moratorium on Method is lethal injection executions. He said, "I refuse 0 people released from death row based on to be a part of this compromised and inequitable evidence system any longer; and I will 0 people have been granted clemency not allow further executions while I am Governor." Both of Death Penalty Moratorium Oregon's post-Furman executions happened during Oregon abolished the death penalty in 1914 by popular Kitzhaber's first vote. Unfortunately, it was reinstated again in 1920 by administration as governor. popular vote. In 1964, Oregon voters once again voted Both inmates dropped their to repeal the death penalty. On Nov. 5 1964, two days appeals and "volunteered" for after the vote, Gov. commuted the death execution. Of those two executions, Kitzhaber said, "I sentences of the three death row inmates. was torn between my personal convictions about the morality Oregon's Bishops Stand of capital punishment and my Against Capital Punishment oath to uphold the Oregon constitution. They were the "On this day, November 30, The International Day of most agonizing and difficult Cities for Life/Cities against the Death Penalty, I am decisions I have made as pleased to express on behalf of the Archdiocese of Governor and I have revisited Portland in Oregon, our support for the decision by and questioned them over and over again during the past 14 Governor to continue the moratorium on years." executions in Oregon. Governor Brown has answered the call issued by Pope Francis earlier this year to Governor Kate Brown leaders around the world to mark the Church's Jubilee announced on February 18, Year of Mercy by ending the use of the death penalty... 2015, that she would continue the state's moratorium on There are currently 34 people on Oregon's death row. executions. Gov. Brown said Despite the moratorium, death penalty cases continue "[t]here needs to be a broader to proceed through the appeals system and new death discussion about fixing the sentences can still be issued. The Archdiocese of system... [u]ntil that Portland calls on Gov. Brown to take another step in discussion, I will be upholding the moratorium imposed by building a culture of life and commute the sentences of Gov. Kitzhaber. all those on Oregon's death row to life without parole." -Archbishop Alexander Sample, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland The Church and State Speak

The Church Speaks The States Speak

Catechism of the Catholic Church Innocence

“The Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, Nationally, over 160 people have been that 'the death penalty is inadmissible because it exonerated from death row. is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the For every nine executions carried out in the person' and she works with determination for its United States, one person has been found to abolition worldwide." (CCC 2267) be innocent. Racial Bias Evangelium Vitae 76% of death row defendants have been Pope St. John Paul II's encyclical on human executed for killing white victims, even though dignity, challenges us to be "unconditionally pro- African--Americans make up about half of all life.": "The case of someone who has done great homicide victims. evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the Criminalization of Mental Illness chance to reform." (Evangelium Vitae and Intellectual Disabilities , 27) United States Conference A study in the Hastings Law Journal of recent executions found that "over half of the last one of Catholic Bishops hundred executed offenders have been "Its [the death penalty] application is deeply diagnosed with or displayed symptoms of flawed and can be irreversibly wrong, is prone to mental illness." errors and is biased by factors such as race, the The Supreme Court banned the execution of quality of legal representation and where the those with intellectual disabilities but states crime was committed." (A Culture of Life and the have significantly deviated from accepted Penalty of Death clinical methods for determining intellectual , USCCB, 2005) disability. Words of the Popes Overrepresentation of the Poor Pope Francis: "Rendering justice' does not mean The majoritiy of individuals on death row could seeking punishment for its own sake, but not afford their own attorney. In many cases, ensuring that the basic purpose of all the appointed attorneys are overworked , punishment is the rehabilitation of the offender." underpaid, or lacking the trial experience World Congress Against the Death Penalty, June required for death penalty cases. 22, 2016 Costly Public Policy Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: "Society's leaders should make every effort to eliminate the death Multiple studies have shown the cost of trial penalty and to reform the penal system in a way sentencing, appeals and imprisonment to be that ensures respect for the prisoners' human much higher in capital cases versus life in dignity." Benin, Africa, Nov. 19, 2011 prison without parole. Geographic Basis 2% of all U.S. counties have produced 56% of the U.S. death row population