The Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. (Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
For nearly a year, Loran Beck believed he did not belong in an Oregon state prison – even though Oregon’s governor sent him there.
On Sept. 19, a Multnomah County District Court judge found that Beck, not the governor, was correct. After Judge Michael Greenlick heard the case, he ordered Beck’s immediate release.
“I don’t want to spend another day drafting an opinion if it’s going to delay his release by another day because I do believe he has served approximately eight months longer than was legal – legally allowable,” Greenlick said, according to a court transcript of the hearing.
Beck, 46, is among a growing group of Oregonians who have successfully sued Gov. Tina Kotek while incarcerated and earned court orders that secured their immediate release. For four people, judges from four different courts have found Kotek’s orders to revoke their commuted prison sentences illegally extended their sentences. Another case is pending.