Death Penalty

Signature-gathering begins for initiative to end costly, dysfunctional, ineffective system

SACRAMENTO – Dec. 14, 2015 - Taxpayers for Sentencing Reform, a coalition that includes conservatives, liberals, law enforcement, religious leaders, and victims’ families, announced today that it is collecting signatures for a November 2016 ballot initiative to end the state’s dysfunctional and costly death penalty system.

Saturday, 13 June 2015 M*A*S*H actor Mike Farrell brought his anti-death penalty message to Oregon Friday. Activist Farrell is head of Death Penalty Focus in San Francisco.Although best known for his role on the television series “M*A*S*H,” Mike Farrell also has a longer history as an activist for human rights and against the death penalty.

He came to Oregon to talk about those passions with opponents of the state’s death penalty.

American University Professor and author Richard Stack will address the likelihood that more than a few innocent people have been executed in this country since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. He will speak at OADP's Annual Meeting in Eugene on May 13 (see sidebar) as well as on three university campuses on May 12-14. The campus talks are all free and open to the public.

Some people feel that the State has a responsibility to protect its citizens and executions are the surest way to provide protection against murderers.

In the abstract, people may feel that it is the responsibility of the State and the State should carry out the execution. But, we are the State. The people are the State. When there is an execution, everyone is responsible, yet a few citizens are asked to carry out the task of killing another human being.