USA - Oregon. New governor will continue death penalty moratorium

New governor will continue death penalty moratorium. Gov. Kate Brown, who sworn in 2 days ago, said today she'll continue a death penalty moratorium imposed by her predecessor.
Speaking to the media for the first time since she took the reins of state government from John Kitzhaber, Brown offered few specifics about her plans. On the death penalty, however, she made clear that she won't be allowing any executions in the near future. "There needs to be a broader discussion about fixing the system," Brown said of the death penalty. "Until that discussion, I will be upholding the moratorium imposed by Gov. Kitzhaber." Kitzhaber announced in 2011 that he would block all executions during his tenure, saying capital punishment is applied arbitrarily and calling for a statewide vote on whether it should stick around. The vote never happened, and Kitzhaber did little to push for it. The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the governor's power to issue reprieves when Kitzhaber was sued by Gary Haugen, a man convicted of two murders who wanted to waive his appeals and hasten his death.