Jeff Ellis, Director of Oregon Capital Resource Center and nationally known death penalty defense attorney will be the featured speaker at the 2012 annual meeting of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (OADP), a partner of Amnesty International USA in Oregon. The general public is invited to the meeting and presentation on the Supreme Court’s 1972 Furman v Georgia decision.

In the wake of four states replacing their death penalty, in the past four years, more and more attention is being paid to the discussion of the death penalty. Oregon now has a moratorium on executions and the historic perspective on the Furman decision weighs heavily on current discussions.

Furman v. Georgia, was a 1972 United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was decided in 1976. At that period of time Oregon did not have a death penalty and it was not voted back into effect until 1984. Since then Oregon remains one of (now) 33 states with a death penalty; there are 37 people on the Oregon death row and there have only been two Oregon executions since 1984, both men giving up their rights of appeal. Jeff Ellis is an attorney who represents individuals condemned to die. He currently serves as Capital Resource Counsel, providing assistance to Oregon attorneys representing individuals facing or under a death sentence. Mr. Ellis is also an adjunct professor teaching capital punishment law at Lewis and Clark Law School. He previously taught at the University of Texas and Seattle University law schools. Mr. Ellis also serves as a board member on Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Event starts at 7pm