A judge has ordered a pause on early releases of prisoners who committed crimes as juveniles, granting in part the relief sought in a lawsuit filed against Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, by two district attorneys and four family members of homicide victims.
Brown has granted early release to nearly 1,200 convicted felons, including 10 convicted murderers, since March 1, 2020.
Marion County Circuit Court Judge David Leith ruled on March 1 that the governor had unlawfully conferred her clemency powers to the Oregon Parole Board.
“The board lacked delegated authority to hear the parole cases of the offenders at issue,” Leith wrote in his ruling. “It was only the [Governor’s] clemency order that purported to provide that authority.”
According to Linn County District Attorney Doug Marteeny, a petitioner in the suit, that transfer of authority shielded Brown from accountability for commuting the sentences of inmates convicted of violent crimes.
“What the governor attempted to do was commute [sentences] without having the label that she was the one who released them,” said Marteeny in a public written statement.
“The judge found that the governor was exercising her authority improperly,” and releasing those convicted of murder, rape, and child sex abuse, he continued.
The court ordered the parole board to refrain from conducting or carrying out the release process, which was scheduled to move forward this month.
“Governor Brown has misapplied her clemency powers since early 2020,” Kevin Mannix, lead attorney for the petitioners, stated in a brief obtained by The Epoch Times. “We have a victory for crime victims in that the Board of Parole will not be able to shorten sentences for 250 violent criminals.”
The suit further asserted that Brown had granted clemency to people who had not requested early release through the legal process.
“Convicted criminals must initiate the process to seek forgiveness and state their case by demonstrating remorse, rehabilitation, and a desire and capability to reasonably re-enter society,” the petitioners claimed.
They also argued that Brown improperly failed to notify victims or their families and district attorneys of pending releases as required by law.
That part of the suit has been denied.
“We will continue to challenge Gov. Brown’s willingness to ignore the experienced voices of prosecuting attorneys and the anguished cries of crime victims,” said Monique DeSpain, attorney for the petitioners, in an email to The Epoch Times.
Surviving family members who joined the suit include Randy Tennant, whose mother in law was killed by her grandson when he was just 17, and Samuel Williams whose daughter, Jessica, was stabbed to death, mutilated, and then set on fire by Carl Alsup, then 17, and two others in 2003.
“I am disappointed that the governor is allowed to ignore the voice of crime victims and district attorneys in the clemency process,” Mannix wrote.
The state has indicated that it will appeal the judge’s decision regarding the parole board process.
“The governor continues to believe that executive clemency is an important tool that can be used to address systemic failures in our criminal justice system while we work to make lasting change, and she will continue to exercise her clemency authority,” the Governor’s office wrote in response to the ruling.
“We will cross-appeal to defend what we have won and to continue to push for the right of victims and district attorneys to be heard in the clemency process,” said Mannix.
