Letter: Death penalty no longer useful in Oregon


It’s too late for the legislators to address the repeal of the death penalty during the 2014 session, but perhaps it could be discussed and accomplished next session.

If it ever did have a positive deterrent in Oregon (which I doubt), it has now outlived any usefulness it had.

I say that for the following reasons:

1. The law is not being used now, even upon the request of the convicted.

2. The appeal system is nothing but a cash cow for attorneys who are paid for by the taxpayers of the state.

3. We have the records of the costs of these appeals over the years. It would be an interesting figure to see what part of the estimated $50,000 annual cost per inmate comes from legal costs and, more important, how many K-12 students (at an estimated $8,000 each) this figure would finance yearly for their education.

L.C. Noyd