Oregon Governor Commutes Sentences of Everyone on Death Row

On Tuesday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced the state will be commuting the sentences of all 17 people on death row in the state, moving them instead to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“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 in a statement.

Brown’s action pushes forward with moratoriums first established by her Democratic predecessor, John Kitzhaber, in 2011.

“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’s decision, made as she prepares to depart office after being term-limited, follows a growing opposition to the death penalty. Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., have abolished the death penalty, while two others, California and Pennsylvania, have governor-issued moratoriums, as Oregon previously had. The death penalty is still legal in 27 states, including the states with moratoriums.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 17 people have been executed in 2022, all in Alabama, Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, as of November 29. And as of April 1, over 2,400 people are on death row.

“The death penalty is immoral. It is an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction; is wasteful of taxpayer dollars; does not make communities safer; and cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably,” Brown said.

LGBTQ activists and allies in San Antonio, Texas, turned a far-right attack on a drag show into an open-air party.

On Tuesday night, armed members of “This Is Texas Freedom Force,” which the FBI calls an “extremist militia group,” protested outside San Antonio’s Aztec Theatre as it hosted a drag show.

The protesters carried signs reading “Stop Groomers and Pedos,” while members of the San Antonio Family Association were also in attendance, waving signs reading “Marriage = Husband + Wife,” and “Honk for Marriage.”

But counterprotesters showed up in even bigger numbers on Tuesday, and according to Texas Observer reporter Steven Monacelli, they turned the night into a giant party.

A November report from GLAAD found that drag events faced at least 124 significant threats, just this year. Last week, another San Antonio venue, The Starlighter, canceled drag events for the rest of year due to safety threats and harassment.

Many of the far-right protesters on Tuesday came bearing arms, and so too did the counterprotesters, including a military veteran who sported a “FCK NZS” patch on his vest as he sought to support LGBTQ people.

In a basic sense, it’s obviously disheartening to see people take up arms against one other. No less while one side—whether by forced delusion from profiteering right-wing hacks or their own entrenched reactionary views—seeks to strip away fundamental civil rights from people.

On the other hand, the manner in which masses showed up to defend those whose rights are under attack is animating.

This kind of protest—one that presents a rejection of the restrictive and angry nature of reactionary conservatism—is profound. The counterprotesters, in their “open air party” allyship, showcased what can come from sharing compassion and love and radical empathy with people. That kind of joy can maintain a movement and can perhaps welcome others to join, even those who may have been seen as “too far gone.”

The Twitter account tracking Elon Musk’s private jet has been suspended, a month after Musk had promised not to ban the profile in the name of “free speech.”

Jack Sweeney, who ran the jet tracker, had told Business Insider on Sunday that his account had already been “shadowbanned,” meaning its visibility had been restricted. As of Wednesday, the account was fully removed.

Since Musk—a self-described “free speech absolutist,” except, apparently, when it comes to jokes at his expense—took over Twitter, multiple accounts have been banned for a variety of reasons.

Several comedians and actors were suspended for mocking the Tesla founder, while a few prominent liberal accounts were blocked (and ultimately reinstated) for no apparent reason.

But other forms of free speech have abounded under Musk. In the 12 hours alone following his chaotic Twitter takeover, use of the n-word increased almost 500 percent, according to the National Contagion Research Institute.

A report released Tuesday by Media Matters and GLAAD found that anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, particularly use of the word “groomer,” has shot up since Musk took the reins in October. Nine well-known anti-LGBTQ accounts saw a 1,200 percent increase in retweets of posts using the slur.

Meanwhile, mentions of a prominent pro-LGBTQ account in tweets using the slur rose more than 225,000 percent.

And Musk has restored accounts previously suspended for propagating violence, including former President Donald Trump and neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin.

Twitter has also dropped its Covid-19 misinformation regulations, and on Monday night dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, the independent advisory group formed in 2016 to address issues on the platform including hate speech, violence, and abuse.

It would seem Twitter is becoming less of a free speech haven and more of a “free-for-all hellscape”...which Musk also promised would not happen.

Sean Casten has no shame when it comes to climate advocacy.

In fact, the Illinois representative spent his Tuesday morning singing praises for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), to the tune of Rihanna’s “Work.”

“To my colleagues in the Senate, the eyes of the nation in this chamber are on you, we will never, no never, neglect you. We do not hold your past against you,” Casten urged the Senate, to a rhythm that would make Lin Manuel-Miranda blush. “But you need to get it done, done, done, done, done, done.”

“Mr. Speaker, what else can I say, I’m trying babe,” Casten finished, yielding to presiding Speaker Pat Ryan.

FERC oversees much of the energy sector, including interstate electricity transmission, hydroelectric project licensing, and natural gas and oil pipeline projects. Casten—who beat a six-term Republican incumbent in his district in 2018—was seeking to bring attention to the Senate failing to renominate FERC’s fifth commissioner, Chairman Richard Glick.

Biden had set a previous goal of a zero-carbon pollution power sector by 2035, and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050, something the Inflation Reduction Act puts America on track to approach. Massive electricity generation, transmission, and storage are needed to attain such goals. Without a fully-staffed FERC, it’ll be hard to meet them.

The danger is if any FERC decisions related to the energy transition are split 2-2, Casten told The New Republic. “The things that we’re trying to do, that capital markets are trying to do, to give us cleaner, more reliable, more efficient energy are now going to be stalled just for a bureaucratic reason because we didn’t appoint a commissioner. It’s an own-goal.”

“A deadlocked FERC would eliminate up to 80 percent of the emissions reductions created by the IRA,” Casten noted in his musical remarks Tuesday.

For months, the fate of Glick’s renomination has been up in the air. Senator Joe Manchin, who has enjoyed millions of dollars from coal companies he founded, chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee tasked with conducting hearings with FERC nominees. Thus far, the senator has refused to hold a hearing.

In March, Manchin did call a hearing, but only to reprimand Glick and the commission’s Democrats for requiring more information from natural gas projects about their economic justification and environmental impacts. And Manchin was further incensed after President Biden last month called to shut down coal-powered energy plants.

Manchin, who has spent months lobbying for permitting reform that would—beyond clearing the path for a natural gas pet project in his own state—ostensibly promote construction of new electrical transmission lines, is hindering the staffing of the agency that would oversee that reform. He moreover threatens the timely execution of the IRA, one of Biden’s most signature accomplishments.

Last year, Casten led a #HotFERCSummer campaign featuring House floor renditions inspired by Megan Thee Stallion, Fergie, and Dolly Parton to advocate for FERC-related legislation and to fill a previously empty FERC seat, which was completed in November 2021.

And his advocacy continues.

“Having had some degree of success to break the deadlock last time—just at the expense of humiliating myself on the House floor—I thought we’d try to do it again and cringe it up and do some more dad jokes and see if we can strike lightning twice.”

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a historic bill enshrining the right to marriage equality into law.

The Respect for Marriage Act, which applies to both same-sex and interracial marriage, would require that two people be considered married so long as their marriage was legal in the state in which it was performed. The act also repeals a 1996 law defining marriage as between a man and a woman, which has remained on the books despite being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2015.

Many civil rights activists had warned that after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, same-sex marriage may be next on the chopping block.

About 2,000-3,000 people attended the signing ceremony on the White House lawn, according to spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre. The event opened with a performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. The singers wore silver sequin scarves and sang “Harmony’s Never Too Late,” an original piece.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer highlighted how personal the bill is for him, as his daughter and her wife are expecting their first child. “Yes, this is about making life better for millions of LGBTQ Americans…but it’s also [for] the countless children and families who will be protected by this bill,” he said.

Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi highlighted the numerous wins for the LGBTQ community over the years, including the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell at the end of her first term as speaker.

Musicians Sam Smith and Cyndi Lauper performed their respective songs “Stay With Me” and “True Colors.” Lauper opened her song by saying, “This time, love wins,” and punctuated the grand finale calling out, “Power to all the people.”

Gina and Heidi Nortonsmith, one of the seven couples who sued the state of Massachusetts for marriage equality in 2001, gave a speech celebrating how much progress has been made but acknowledging how much farther there is to go.

Finally, Biden stepped up to the podium. He thanked all the activists and members of the LGBTQ community whose work helped bring the legislation to pass.

“It’s one thing for the Supreme Court to rule on a case,” he said. “But it’s another thing entirely for the elected representatives of the people to take a vote on the floor of the United States Congress and say loudly and clearly, love is love. Right is right. Justice is justice. These things are fundamental things that America thinks matter.”

Biden also warned about the “extreme” Supreme Court, which rolled back the nationwide right to abortion and has threatened to do more. He decried the attacks on spaces that affirm gender and sexual orientation.

The House of Representatives voted 258-169 last week to pass the final bill to Biden’s desk. At least two Republican House members, Representatives Vicky Hartzler and Glenn Thompson, voted against the bill despite having LGBTQ family members.* Thompson had also voted against an earlier version of the bill this summer, just three days before attending his son’s same-sex wedding.

The Senate voted 61-36 two weeks ago to pass the bill. One of its opponents was Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who is in an interracial marriage.

Critics of the bill have said, though, that it does not go far enough with LGBTQ protections. Part of the amendment says that religious organizations do not have to marry same-sex couples, which would allow groups to continue to be homophobic, and the bill does not require all states to actually issue same-sex marriage licenses.

* This article originally misstated the voting records of Hartzler and Thompson.