[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., ORE.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 10




OKLAHOMA:

Oklahoma anti-death penalty group opposes nitrogen gas


An anti-death penalty group is voicing its opposition to a state question on 
the ballot in November and the suggestion by Oklahoma's attorney general that 
the state consider using nitrogen gas to execute death row inmates.

The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty held a press conference at 
the state Capitol on Monday to recognize the 14th annual World Day Against the 
Death Penalty.

Attorneys, legislators and members of the clergy were among those who spoke.

Several of the speakers voiced opposition to a state question that would 
enshrine the death penalty into Oklahoma's Constitution.

Members of the coalition also say they're opposed to Attorney General Scott 
Pruitt's suggestion that state prison officials develop new execution protocols 
that allow for the use of nitrogen gas to execute inmates.

(source: Associated Press)






OREGON:

Public invited to death penalty conversation


Frank Thompson, former superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, will 
lead a conversation about the death penalty at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17, at 
Center 50+ in Salem.

The event is sponsored by Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. 
Tickets are $15, which include a soup supper, and can be purchased by calling 
503-990-7060, or by visiting www.oadp.org. Seating is limited.

Thompson has been an outspoken critic of capital punishment since he retired 
from corrections in 2010. His opinion piece "What I learned from executing 2 
men" was published Sept. 18 in the New York Times.

The Salem event also will include a 13-minute film called "Death Penalty Fail: 
A Lethal Injection," which dramatizes "botched" executions that have occurred 
in 48 documented accounts, in 13 different states.

(source: The Statesman Journal)