Oregon Gov. Brown commutes sentences of all the state’s death row inmates – National & International News – WED 14Dec2022

Oregon Gov. Brown commutes sentences of all the state’s death row inmates. Jan. 6 Committee to hold final public meeting next Monday; will likely announce criminal referrals. Brazil: Bolsonaro supporters attack police HQ.

NATIONAL NEWS

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown commutes sentences of all the state’s death row inmates

With less than a month left in office, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has commuted the sentences of all 17 inmates on Oregon’s death row to life without the possibility of parole. While capital punishment is legal in the Oregon, the state has not carried out an execution since 1997. Since taking office in 2015, Brown has used her clemency powers more than all the state’s governors in the last 50 years combined.

Brown continued a moratorium on the state’s death penalty that began with her predecessor. During the pandemic, she granted clemency to nearly 1000 non-violent offenders to reduce overcrowding. She’s also allowed 73 juvenile offenders convicted of committing crimes as serious as murder to apply for early release.

In her statement regarding yesterday’s commutations, Brown said she’d previously granted clemency to offenders who “demonstrated extraordinary growth and rehabilitation”. But Brown said the commutations were not based on “any rehabilitative efforts” by the death row inmates. Instead, she highlighted her philosophical stance against capital punishment.

Brown called the death penalty “dysfunctional and immoral” and “an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction”. Capital punishment is “wasteful of taxpayer dollars; does not make communities safer; and cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably,” Brown said.

While Brown asserts that “many Oregonians” share her views, the commutations have received heated criticism both from Democrat and Republican state politicians as well as prosecutors. Brown is no stranger to unpopularity. Morning Consult polls in Nov. 2021 and Oct. 2022 found Brown to have 43% and 40% approval respectively- in each case the lowest of any US governor. The incoming Democratic Governor who will replace Brown in January, Tina Kotek, has also said she opposes the death penalty on religious grounds.

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Jan. 6 Committee announces final public meeting next Monday

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the House Jan. 6 Select Committee, announced yesterday that the committee will hold a final televised public meeting next week. Thompson said it would air on Monday, Dec. 19, at 1 p.m. ET/ 12 noon CT. As with the committee’s previous broadcasts, the airtime is subject to change.

Last week, Thompson told reporters that the committee had decided on at least one criminal referral to the Justice Department based on their findings. He did not say who the referral was for, nor what the potential charges might be.

During next week’s broadcast, Thompson says the committee will publicly announce and vote on those criminal referrals. They will also vote on the release of their final report, which will likely come two days later on Wednesday. 

The committee will officially disband once it releases its final report. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who may be the next Speaker of the House, has demanded that the committee to preserve its records. McCarthy has vowed to form his GOP-led Jan. 6 committee next year. This will give House Republicans a chance to do some counter-programming by picking over the Thompson committee’s work. 

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Brazil: Bolsonaro supporters attack police HQ

On October 30, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro narrowly lost his runoff bid for re-election to leftist challenger Lula da Silva. Lula won by 1.8%, representing a margin of just over 2 million voters. Over a month later, Bolsonaro still has not conceded his defeat, though a member of his staff promised an orderly transition of power. Despite this promise, Bolsonaro and his party mounted a legal challenge to the election results. The court rejected the suit and fined Bolsonaro’s party for bringing a lawsuit in bad faith.

Many of Bolsonaro’s supporters still refuse to accept the results of the election. For days following Bolsonaro’s loss at the polls, some of his most militant supporters blockaded major highways with large trucks. Brazilian police have broken up most of these blockades, but new ones are still popping up.

On Monday, a group of Bolsonaro’s supporters (reporting is unclear on how many) led an all-out attack on the federal police headquarters in the capital Brasilia. Police are holding an indigenous leader and Bolsonaro supporter named José Acácio Serere Xavante. A judge ordered Serere Xavante held for 10 days for “alleged anti-democratic acts”. Prosecutors say Serere Xavante, “attempted to incite people to try to abolish the rule of law and to impede the swearing-in of the president and vice-president elect”.

Bolsonaro supporters demanding Serere Xavante attempted to storm the headquarters. During the attack, the rioters set fire to five buses and eight cars outside the building. They also blocked several key roads, some of which remained closed on Tuesday morning. The attack also coincided with the day Lula’s election win was certified. Lula will officially take office on January 1.

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