Father and Son Sentenced to Death in Oregon

Last week, a jury in Salem, Oregon sentenced a father and son to death for planting a bomb that exploded inside a bank in 2008, killing two police officers.

According to the Associated Press, prosecutors portrayed Bruce Turnidge and his son Joshua as bigoted men who hated authorities, were desperate for money and feared that President Obama would take away their guns. Father and son turned on each other during trial, each pointing the finger at the other for building and planting the bomb.

The Turnidges will be sent to the maximum-security Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, where most inmates sentenced to death are housed.

The Oregon Supreme Court will hear the Turnidges direct appeal as part of an automatic review process in capital cases. The appeals processes on death penalty cases can take years. Some inmates on Oregon's death row have been there more than 15years, according to the Department of Corrections. Inmates on death row spend less time out of their prison cells and have fewer privileges, more restricted visiting and higher levels of security than inmates in general population.

Executions in Oregon are conducted by lethal injection. According to the Statesman Journal, the last execution was of Harry Charles Moore,in 1997. Under Oregon law, only a conviction of aggravated murder can result in a death sentence. There are 391 inmates in Oregon who have been convicted of aggravated murder, but only 36 inmates face execution, according to the Department of Corrections.

To read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20101223/NEWS/12230340/Death-row-inmates-face-tighter-restrictions-lengthy-appeals-process#ixzz19JyaCs1j