Capital punishment in Oregon the gallows, "Did not your missionaries teach us that Christ died to save his people? So we die to save our people." Capital punishment was made explicitly legal by statute in 1864, and executions have been carried out exclusively at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem since 1904. The death penalty was outlawed between 1914 and 1920, again between 1964 and 1978, and then again between a 1981 Oregon Supreme Court ruling and a 1984 ballot measure. Oregon voters amended the Constitution in 1914, to repeal the death penalty, by a margin of 50.04%. The repeal was an initiative of
Oregon State Defense Force able-bodied residents of the state between the ages of 18 and 45. State employees of the Oregon Military Department who are not otherwise members of the Oregon National Guard may be required to join the Oregon State Defense Force as a condition of employment. By statute the Oregon State Defense Force is an internal security force for the Oregon State National Guard and can be called upon by the Governor of Oregon to serve under many capacities. These capacities include, but are not limited to: Since state defense force members live at home rather than on a military base, it