A Letter from Governor Kate Brown
January 2022: Governor Kate Brown commuted the sentences of 912 inmates who were deemed at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19. The freed inmates were medically vulnerable, had completed at least half their sentences and were not serving time for crimes against people.Brown also commuted the sentences of 41 inmates who fought the historic 2020 Labor Day Fires.
Governor Brown was slapped with a lawsuit by Oregon House Rep. Kevin Mannix, the architect of Measure 11/mandatory minimum sentencing. The measure removes the ability for judges to oversee sentencing.
On the law office wall of this Rile-e Up Republican are two framed slogans. One reads, “Reports of my brilliance are highly understated.” The other, “Once I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken.
That riled me up. I packaged a copy of Falling, and wrote a letter to Governor Kate Brown that began like this:
Dear Governor Brown,
I was inspired to write this morning after I read the article in The Rogue Valley’s Mail Tribune regarding the commuted prison sentences your signed.
I thought two things:
1. Finally, we are moving forward.
2. Is that dinosaur Kevin Mannix still around?
Here was her response:
A letter from Governor Kate Brown
A letter from Governor Kate Brown
January 2022: Governor Kate Brown commuted the sentences of 912 inmates who were deemed at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19. The freed inmates were medically vulnerable, had completed at least half their sentences and were not serving time for crimes against people.Brown also commuted the sentences of 41 inmates who fought the historic 2020 Labor Day Fires.
Governor Brown was slapped with a lawsuit by Oregon House Rep. Kevin Mannix, the architect of Measure 11/mandatory minimum sentencing. The measure removes the ability for judges to oversee sentencing.
January 2022: Governor Kate Brown commuted the sentences of 912 inmates who were deemed at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19. The freed inmates were medically vulnerable, had completed at least half their sentences and were not serving time for crimes against people.Brown also commuted the sentences of 41 inmates who fought the historic 2020 Labor Day Fires.
Governor Brown was slapped with a lawsuit by Oregon House Rep. Kevin Mannix, the architect of Measure 11/mandatory minimum sentencing. The measure removes the ability for judges to oversee sentencing.
A reason to celebrate!
One of our own has been freed, Lisa Roberts. Lisa and I served time together at Coffee Creek. Lisa was a stand-up gal in all areas of life on the inside. She revealed consistent strength of character no matter the circumstances. She will do well on the outside as she took her time seriously and applied herself first to take inventory and then to improve and grow. I am thrilled for her. This represents the possibility of a great shift in prison awareness that eventually could lead to prison reform. Thank you to Senator Kim Thatcher and godspeed Lisa!