The Wayne Morse Center’s “The Law and Politics of the Death Penalty: Abolition, Moratorium, or Reform?” conference is already drawing criticism from death penalty supporters — and it doesn’t kick off until 9:45 a.m. Friday.
The two-day conference, which brings together some of the nation’s most outspoken opponents of the death penalty, along with supporters and advocates of reform, has aroused the ire of Crime Victims United, a Portland area victims rights group.
In a statement issued earlier this week, the group called the conference “a political rally for those who oppose the death penalty, organized by state employees, held at state facilities, and backed by government money” and called on the Oregon attorney general to investigate whether event organizers had violated state spending laws.
The event is the brainchild of Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree Jr., the 2001-02 Wayne Morse chair professor of law and politics at the University. Ogletree, who has spoken frequently about racism in the U.S. criminal justice system, called the current system of capital punishment flawed and said now is a “most appropriate time” to discuss the issue of the death penalty in the United States.
The death penalty “is flawed in it’s application and goes against the views of the majority of the world’s democratic governments,” Ogletree said.
He added that recent advances in DNA evidence have contributed to numerous death sentences being overturned, and more such cases are pending. Given the permanence of a death sentence, it’s vital to take an in-depth look at the issue, he said.
“We keep seeing cases where people are getting it wrong,” he said. “It’s time to step back and say ‘wait a minute, why are we making these mistakes?’”
The conference will also include keynote addresses from such notables as former Oregon Gov. Mark Hatfield, Sister Helen Prejean, author of the book “Dead Man Walking,” and Illinois Gov. George Ryan — who suspended that state’s death penalty amid doubts about the guilt of death row inmates.
Ryan, who agreed to participate in the conference just a few weeks ago, was actually one of the legislators who helped reinstate Illinois’ death penalty in 1977. But after discovering that 13 men had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to die, Ryan surprised the world in January 2000 by announcing a moratorium on capital punishment in Illinois.
According to his spokesman Dennis Culloton, Ryan’s decision to attend the conference was part of the governor’s larger search into his own support of the death penalty.
“The governor is very much on a journey,” Culloton said. “He hasn’t made up his mind on the big picture.”
Morse Center director Margaret Hallock said the conference was already a success, just from the sheer number of people who have offered to participate. And she credits that success to Ogletree.
“I’ve never organized a conference where everyone invited agreed to attend,” she said. “This conference is a gift that we are able to enjoy because of (Ogletree’s) presence as Morse Professor.”
Keynote addresses will be held in the EMU Ballroom. They are free and open to the public. The entire conference schedule can be found online at www.morsechair.uoregon.edu.