John Kitzhaber Quotes


I do not believe that these executions made us safer. Certainly I do not believe they made us more noble.


Citations

John Kitzhaber, Physician and Governor of Oregon (Democrat) Observation on the two executions that he allowed to proceed when he was governor, Quoted in The Atlantic, March 2012

Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations

Related Quotes

Sherman was distressed at the full due process and trials that had to be given to Confederate spies and guerrillas and wanted to execute them quickly as an example. He complained to the Judge Advocate General that his men were “losing prisoners in the swamp” which both of them realized meant the immediate execution of prisoners by soldiers and junior officers which Sherman did not like either. The Lincoln administration insisted on the full due process. Even after conviction, President Abraham Lincoln tended to pardon many of the condemned.


Einstein had changed his mind. He like almost everyone else at the time favored the death penalty, but in 1927 came to the new conclusion for the same reasons that many American politicians stated 70 years later. He had no compunctions against capital punishment for murderers who were dangers to society, but the potential error of the justice system led him to oppose state sanctioned execution. At the time the number of errors in capital cases that had been demonstrated were few. But as a scientist, Einstein knew that all human endeavors were prone to error. He was a strong law and order supporter however—see {588606}.


He was one of the longest serving District Attorneys in America, He also served the largest jurisdiction of a District Attorney. When he first was elected DA of Manhattan there were over 600 murders a year. When he retired, there were only about 60, a 90% reduction. Yet, his experience was that capital punishment was useless in deterring murder. He had many other techniques far more effective.


John Kitzhaber
John Kitzhaber
  • Born: March 5, 1947
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: Politician

John Albert Kitzhaber is an American physician and former politician. He is the longest-serving governor in Oregon's history, having served as the 35th and 37th Governor of Oregon, the only person to date to serve non-consecutive terms. He is also the only Oregon governor to resign because of a scandal. He served two terms from 1995 until 2003, another full-term from 2011 until 2015, and was sworn in for a fourth term on January 12, 2015. He resigned on February 18, 2015, with state and federal investigations into criminal allegations against him and his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes. A member of the Democratic Party, Kitzhaber previously served in the Oregon House of Representatives (1979–81) and the Oregon Senate (1981–93), including as Senate President (1985–93). He was also an emergency physician and has worked as a health care administrator.