Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday that she is commuting the sentences of the 17 people on death row in the state to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Brown’s order, which she gave using her executive clemency powers in her last month as governor, will go into effect Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.
“Justice is not advanced by taking a life, and the state should not be in the business of executing people — even if a terrible crime placed them in prison,” the governor wrote in a statement also posted to Twitter
“Today I am commuting Oregon’s death row so that we will no longer have anyone serving a sentence of death and facing execution in this state,” the statement continued.
Brown noted that she has previously granted clemency to individuals who have demonstrated “growth and rehabilitation,” but that her most recent decision was not based on any rehabilitative efforts of the death row inmates.
“Instead, it reflects the recognition that the death penalty is immoral,” Brown stated, explaining that capital punishment is wasteful of taxpayer’s money, doesn’t allow for rehabilitation and “cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably.”
Though the death penalty is legal in Oregon, the state has not executed a prisoner since 1997, per BBC News.