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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 16, 2004 Since you asked Oregon’s death penalty dates to 1864, with repeals How many years has it been since Oregon voters passed the death penalty, how many people are there on death row now, and what’s the reason Oregon does not carry out the death sentence? —Tom R., Medford The death penalty’s history in Oregon goes far deeper than the most recent time voters passed it into law in 1984. Capital punishment first entered the Oregon Constitution in 1864. Voters repealed it in 1914, but restored it six years later. The death penalty again was outlawed in 1964, reinstated in 1978 and struck down by the Oregon Supreme Court all before its current reincarnation. Twenty-nine inmates are now sitting on death row at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. All are men — one American Indian, two black, two Hispanic and 24 white. The only one tried and sentenced in Jackson County is Robert James Acremant Jr. for the 1995 murders of Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill. No death row inmates have execution dates anywhere in the near future, said Kevin Neely, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Justice. Sixty convicted murderers have been put to death in the state’s history. Oregon’s lengthy appeals process for capital punishment is the largest factor in inmates’ prolonged stay on death row, Neely said. Upon conviction for aggravated murder — the state’s only crime for which the perpetrator can be executed — the sentence can be appealed twice to the state Supreme Court and three times to the U.S. Supreme Court, in addition to the county circuit court of conviction, the Oregon Court of Appeals, federal District Court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The only inmates executed in Oregon since 1984 chose not to follow the appeals process, according to information provided by the Oregon Department of Corrections. Between 1984 and 1990, the Oregon Department of Justice litigated 24 death penalty at a cost of $794,000, according to the department of corrections report. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers