PDF Marteeny v. Brown
In 2020 and 2021, Oregon Governor Kate Brown granted clemency to approximately 1,026 convicted felons, comprising three groups: (1) individuals “vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19,” (2) individuals who had fought “the historic wildfires that ravaged the state around Labor Day 2020,” and (3) 73 individuals who were sentenced as juveniles prior to the passage of a non-retroactive law that established early release hearings after 15 years of incarceration for juvenile offenders. Two district attorneys and four family members of victims challenged these commutations. The Oregon Court of Appeals concluded that the commutations at issue here were a lawful exercise of the broad clemency power afforded Oregon governors by constitution and statute.