Oregon Governor Kate Brown is being sued after boasting that she has freed nearly 1,000 potentially dangerous convicts from state prisons without giving any notice to the families of victims. The lawsuit has been filed by two district attorneys and the families of three murder victims whose killers have been granted clemency by Governor Brown, a Democrat. The lawsuit argues that Brown is completely disregarding existing laws in her mass clemency offers.
Governor sued for clemency efforts
One district attorney complained that Governor Brown is trying to grant clemency to a group of eight suspects from her district; all of them were under 18 at the time of their crimes.
The crimes they committed, however, were anything but youthful indiscretions. One 17-year-old matricide literally buried his mother alive in 2002.
This individual, who showed no remorse even after being sentenced to life in prison, was described by a relative as “a shell of a human being, without character or conscience.”
His inclusion with the other murderers and child molesters being given a chance for freedom by the governor shows exactly where Kate Brown’s priorities are.
Defendants and convicted criminals have been afforded certain absolute rights since ancient times; between Magna Carta and the Constitution these rights have been thoroughly spelled out.
The purpose of a criminal justice system, however, is to protect the innocent and society as a whole. Fairly convicted criminals should always be an afterthought.
Victims’ rights ignored
This governor is completely disregarding the rights that victims have to protection from the law and justice for the wrongs they have suffered.
There is no doubt that most of the people Governor Brown wants to give clemency to committed the crimes they have been convicted and sentenced for.
She is doing this because, as a Democrat, the popular thing to do at the moment is show your love for criminals and harp about the fact that this country has so many prisoners.
In attempting to score liberal virtue points by emptying the prisons, however, Governor Brown is ignoring both her legal duties and the rights of victims.
These criminals were convicted by juries of their peers and properly sentenced by judges. Should one elected official be throwing out the results achieved by the legal system?
The families of murder victims don’t think so, especially given that Governor Brown is, according to them, not even notifying them properly before the criminals are released.
