Oregon governor halts state executions

>>> in the last 49 years, in oregon , the state of oregon has executed two of its prisoners. both of those executions were when john kitsaver was governor in the 1990s , who was personally opposed to the death penalty but said he let the executions be carried out under his watch because it was the law in his state. he is now the governor of oregon again. and today, faced with the prospect of overseeing the killing of another oregon prisoner, this time the governor said no. he wouldn't do it. in a statement tonight, the governor said the death ? penalty as practiced in oregon is neither fair nor just and it is not swift or certain. it is not applied equally to all. he described the last two executions he presided over in the 1990 , as, quote, the most difficult and agonizing decisions i made at governor. i don't believe the executions made us safer or nobler as a society. 14 years ago, he says, i struggled with the decision to allow an execution to proceed. over the years i thought if faced with the same set of circumstances, i would make a different decision. that time has come. the one oregon prisoner scheduled to be killed in two weeks' time has been given a reprieve from execution for the duration of governor kitzhaber's term. this is a temporary retrieve so the prisoner could still be executed under another governor. governor kitzhaber noted today he could have commuted all the citizens of all the prisoners on death row and converted them to life sentences instead, but he didn't. saying, quote, the policy of this state on capital punishment is not mine alone to decide. it's a matter for all oregonians to decide and my hope, indeed, my intention that my action today will bring about a long overdue reevaluation of our current policy. in other words, the governor wants the state to consider changing its policies about killing prisoners, but unless and until the state does change the policy, governor john kitzhaber will refuse to see anymore prisoners killed on liz watch. a dramatic and unexpected statement of principle from oregon 's governor tonight. we posted his whole statement which is intense and worth reading at our blog today at