The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

Gov. Kate Brown’s releases of numerous inmates from Oregon prisons is not new news, but her move on Oct. 20 to use her clemency power to retroactively change sentences for one-time youthful offenders sentenced to long prison terms has raised the ire of some in law enforcement.

It also raises uncomfortable questions about crime and punishment – whether progressive thinking about crime and punishment reflected in recent laws passed in Oregon is more valid than traditional views of guilt and punishment.

In recent years, Oregon’s leaders have moved away from the strict punitive approach...