Outgoing Oregon Governor Kate Brown Commutes All Death Row Sentences

Outgoing Oregon Governor Kate Brown (D) commuted all death row sentences on Tuesday.

Kate Brown commuted sentences of 17 people on death row.

Democrat Tina Kotek won the governor’s race in the 2022 election and will take office in January.

NBC reported:

Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced plans Tuesday to commute the sentences of the 17 people on Oregon’s death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, likely using her executive clemency powers for the last time as governor.

In a statement, Brown criticized the practice of capital punishment, saying the death penalty “cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably.”

“I have long believed that 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,” Brown said.

“Unlike previous commutations I’ve granted to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary growth and rehabilitation, this commutation is not based on any rehabilitative efforts by the individuals on death row. Instead, it reflects the recognition that the death penalty is immoral.”

Brown said that the commutations were consistent with a moratorium on the death penalty initiated in 2011 by then-Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat.

“I also recognize the pain and uncertainty victims experience as they wait for decades while individuals sit on death row—especially in states with moratoriums on executions—without resolution. My hope is that this commutation will bring us a significant step closer to finality in these cases,” Brown said.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/12/outgoing-oregon-governor-kate-brown-commutes-death-row-sentences/

FBI LGBT Guidance Quietly Scrubbed After Employee Backlash, Whistleblower Says

The FBI cancelled a mandatory sexual orientation and gender identity course in 2021 after agents protested being tested on their knowledge of “transgender descriptors,” a suspended FBI agent told the Daily Caller.

The test, sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), intended to boost agents’ awareness of the LGBT community and show how to be “an ally for LGBT colleagues,” documents provided to the Daily Caller show.

The 56-page test showed guidance on the definitions of gender identities and sexual orientations, how to write or talk about a transgender person, how to use the word “queer,” what one can ask an LGBT person and how to use pronouns.

The FBI originally mandated the test for all employees, but it was removed after backlash in the online comment section, suspended FBI agent Kyle Seraphin told the Caller.

“The comment section was so negative, and the reviews were so negative of this training, that the [FBI] just removed it and didn’t tell anybody,” Seraphin said.

Established under the Obama administration in 2013, the ODI was mostly dormant under the Trump administration and then reactivated under President Joe Biden, Seraphin told the Caller.

“ODI was established in 2013 to develop and execute strategies that support our diverse workforce and foster a culture that integrates diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the FBI’s website states.

As of August of 2022, 2.2% of the FBI identified as LGBT , according to the website.

In the course, one appropriate greeting listed for agents is “I’m Special agent Jones, I use he/him pronouns. Thanks for talking to me today! First, what name and pronouns should I use to refer to you?” Pronouns in the test include they/them/their and ze/hir/hir.

https://dailycaller.com/2022/12/13/exclusive-fbi-lgbt-guidance-backlash-agents/