The Oregon Constitution

Oregon Constitution

The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights. This contains most of the rights and privileges granted in the United States Bill of...

 originally had no provision for a death penalty. A statute was enacted in 1864 allowing for the death penalty in cases of first degree murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

. Authority to conduct executions was initially granted to local sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

s, but in 1903, the Oregon Legislative Assembly

Oregon Legislative Assembly

The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...

 passed a law requiring all executions to be conducted at the Oregon State Penitentiary

Oregon State Penitentiary

Oregon State Penitentiary , the first state prison in Oregon, United States, was originally located in Portland in 1851. In 1866 it was moved to a site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging in height...

 in Salem

Salem, Oregon

Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...

, the first state prison in Oregon which opened in 1866.

Oregon voters amended the Constitution in 1914, to repeal the death penalty, by a margin of 50.04%. The repeal was an initiative of Governor Oswald West

Oswald West

Oswald West was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon. Called "Os West" by Oregon writer Stewart Holbrook, who described him as "by all odds the most brilliant governor Oregon ever had."- Early life and career :West was born in Ontario, Canada...

. The death penalty was restored, again by constitutional amendment, in 1920.

Initially, all executions were performed by hanging

Hanging

Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...

; lethal gas was adopted as the method after 1931.

Voters outlawed the death penalty in the general election of 1964, with 60% of the vote. Governor Mark Hatfield

Mark Hatfield

Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee...

 commuted the sentences of three death row inmates two days later.

Crime rates in Oregon: 1960 - 2009

Reported cases of crime in the state of Oregon between 1960 and 2008:

Year	Population	Index	Violent	Property	Murder	Forcible rape	Robbery	Aggravated assault	Burglary	Larceny Theft	Vehicle Theft
1960	1,768,687	34,970	1,232	33,738	43	166	563	460	7,175	24,252	2,311
1961	1,799,000	36,000	1,242	34,758	48	138	626	430	7,276	24,983	2,499
1962	1,864,000	38,364	1,461	36,903	54	174	714	519	8,268	25,871	2,764
1963	1,826,000	40,362	1,393	38,969	55	161	554	623	8,823	27,023	3,123
1964	1,871,000	47,438	2,009	45,429	34	225	703	1,047	10,727	30,812	3,890
1965	1,899,000	52,376	2,290	50,086	65	226	873	1,126	12,079	34,161	3,846
1966	1,955,000	58,400	2,470	55,930	53	247	895	1,275	13,394	37,840	4,696
1967	1,999,000	69,268	3,147	66,121	61	248	1,317	1,521	17,140	43,515	5,466
1968	2,008,000	74,978	3,955	71,023	64	346	1,536	2,009	18,978	46,612	5,433
1969	2,032,000	85,543	4,527	81,016	81	371	1,760	2,315	22,853	51,692	6,471
1970	2,091,385	98,048	5,373	92,675	97	377	2,144	2,755	26,632	59,082	6,961
1971	2,158,000	106,601	6,335	100,266	70	478	2,383	3,404	28,933	63,543	7,790
1972	2,182,000	110,156	6,494	103,662	119	574	2,390	3,411	32,049	63,178	8,435
1973	2,225,000	117,860	6,512	111,348	110	653	2,211	3,538	35,772	66,494	9,082
1974	2,266,000	143,772	8,326	135,446	127	732	2,964	4,503	41,766	83,060	10,620
1975	2,288,000	154,491	10,034	144,457	142	745	2,982	6,165	43,738	90,053	10,666
1976	2,329,000	148,097	10,654	137,443	97	829	3,091	6,637	39,587	88,661	9,195
1977	2,376,000	142,256	10,830	131,426	117	948	2,948	6,817	38,880	83,306	9,240
1978	2,444,000	148,483	12,278	136,205	123	1,008	3,204	7,943	39,523	87,033	9,649
1979	2,527,000	161,045	13,781	147,264	107	1,121	3,299	9,254	40,682	96,823	9,759
1980	2,610,477	174,561	12,802	161,759	132	1,084	3,978	7,608	45,641	106,712	9,406
1981	2,647,000	186,267	12,671	173,596	117	1,105	4,780	6,669	52,067	112,518	9,011
1982	2,649,000	173,973	12,529	161,444	136	1,057	4,433	6,903	47,410	106,061	7,973
1983	2,662,000	166,398	12,986	153,412	109	1,078	4,533	7,266	46,472	98,880	8,060
1984	2,674,000	166,956	13,533	153,423	128	1,201	4,508	7,696	48,755	96,742	7,926
1985	2,687,000	180,830	14,807	166,023	125	1,363	4,986	8,333	50,690	105,725	9,608
1986	2,698,000	191,037	14,830	176,207	178	1,379	5,555	7,718	53,062	112,312	10,833
1987	2,724,000	189,835	14,697	175,138	153	1,247	5,338	7,959	48,562	113,907	12,669
1988	2,741,000	193,479	14,959	178,520	139	1,111	5,289	8,420	48,355	113,872	16,293
1989	2,820,000	173,744	14,625	159,119	134	1,314	4,282	8,895	40,197	103,690	15,232
1990	2,842,321	160,478	14,405	146,073	108	1,332	4,102	8,863	32,273	100,765	13,035
1991	2,922,000	168,165	14,795	153,370	133	1,561	4,387	8,714	34,363	105,145	13,862
1992	2,977,000	173,289	15,189	158,100	139	1,580	4,507	8,963	32,945	109,274	15,881
1993	3,032,000	174,812	15,254	159,558	140	1,554	3,930	9,630	31,072	110,878	17,608
1994	3,086,000	194,307	16,067	178,240	150	1,333	4,264	10,320	33,970	122,506	21,764
1995	3,141,000	206,173	16,408	189,765	129	1,309	4,332	10,638	34,640	133,075	22,050
1996	3,204,000	192,132	14,837	177,295	129	1,272	3,914	9,522	31,664	128,618	17,013
1997	3,243,000	203,328	14,412	188,916	95	1,306	3,811	9,200	33,507	136,129	19,280
1998	3,282,000	185,323	13,778	171,545	126	1,307	3,452	8,893	30,442	123,841	17,262
1999	3,316,154	165,866	12,432	153,434	88	1,219	2,858	8,267	26,749	113,052	13,633
2000	3,421,399	165,780	12,000	153,780	70	1,286	2,888	7,756	25,618	114,230	13,932
2001	3,473,441	175,174	10,650	164,524	84	1,174	2,749	6,643	26,648	123,034	14,842
2002	3,520,355	171,443	10,298	161,145	73	1,238	2,742	6,246	25,696	118,925	16,524
2003	3,564,330	180,369	10,506	169,863	68	1,218	2,847	6,373	28,562	122,327	18,974
2004	3,591,363	177,199	10,724	166,475	90	1,283	2,751	6,600	30,072	117,868	18,535
2005	3,638,871	170,643	10,444	160,199	80	1,266	2,478	6,620	27,621	113,316	19,262
2006	3,700,758	145,168	10,373	135,895	86	1,195	2,689	6,403	23,879	97,556	14,460
2007	3,747,455	142,920	10,777	132,143	73	1,255	2,862	6,587	22,821	94,773	14,549
2008	3,790,060	134,144	9,747	124,397	82	1,156	2,641	5,868	20,879	92,187	11,311
2009	3,825,657	123,255	9,744	113,511	85	1,168	2,461	6,030	19,377	84,265	9,869

Notable criminals and cases

• Jerry Brudos
  Jerry Brudos
  Jerome Henry "Jerry" Brudos was an American serial killer and necrophiliac, also known as "The Lust Killer" and "The Shoe Fetish Slayer".-Early life:...
  
  
• Diane Downs
  Diane Downs
  Elizabeth Diane Frederickson Downs is an American convicted murderer. She shot her three children, killing one, and then told police a stranger had attempted to carjack her and had shot the children. After her conviction in 1984, she was sentenced to life in prison.Downs briefly escaped in 1987...
  
  
• Jim Elkins
  Jim Elkins (Oregon criminal)
  James Butler Elkins was a famous crime boss in Portland, Oregon in the mid-20th century.Elkins was involved in numerous illegal activities for several decades in the mid-20th century, running gambling rackets and nightclubs like the 8212 Club, and was known for his brutality...
  
  
• John K. Giles
  John K. Giles
  John Knight Giles . He was sentenced to the United States Penitentiary on May 11, 1935 for attempted robbery of the Denver and Rio Grande Western mail train. previously been serving a life sentence in Oregon for murder before escaping. Giles had escaped from the jail in Oregon as a WANTED MAN...
  
  
• Keith Hunter Jesperson
  Keith Hunter Jesperson
  Keith Hunter Jesperson is a Canadian-born American serial killer known as the "Happy Face Killer" for the smiley face he drew on his many letters to the media and prosecutors. He had a violent and troubled childhood under a domineering, alcoholic father...
  
  
• Kip Kinkel
  Kip Kinkel
  Kipland Philip "Kip" Kinkel is an American spree killer. In May 1998, at the age of 15, he murdered his parents and engaged in a school shooting at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon that left two students dead and 22 others wounded...
  
  
• Harry Charles Moore
  Harry Charles Moore
  Harry Charles Moore was the second individual executed by the State of Oregon since 1978 for the murders of Thomas Lauri and Barbara Cunningham.- The crime :...
  
  
• Dayton Leroy Rogers
  Dayton Leroy Rogers
  Dayton Leroy Rogers is a serial killer presently residing on Oregon's death row at the Oregon State Penitentiary for six murders....
  
  
• Miriam Sakewitz "Bunny Lady"
• Ward Weaver III
  Ward Weaver III
  Ward Francis Weaver III is a convicted felon. He is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole for sexual assault, rape, attempted murder, and the murders of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis in Oregon City, Oregon....
  
  
• Randall Woodfield
  Randall Woodfield
  Randall Brent "Randy" Woodfield is an American serial killer who was dubbed The I-5 Killer or The I-5 Bandit by law enforcement due to the crimes he allegedly committed along the Interstate 5 corridor running through Washington, Oregon, and California. Before his capture, the I-5 Killer was...
  
  
• Douglas Wright
  Douglas Wright (murderer)
  Douglas Franklin Wright was the first criminal executed by lethal injection in Oregon.-The crimes:Wright was sentenced to death on October 11, 1993 for luring three homeless white men to a remote area of Wasco County on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation with a false promise of work, and then...