In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Penry v. Lynaugh affected the Oregon death penalty, because Oregon's law is based on the Texas law involved in the case.
Penry's case went twice to the United States Supreme Court: Penry v. Lynaugh found that executing the mentally retarded is not cruel and unusual punishment; Penry v. Johnson found that the jury's instructions regarding mitigating factors were incomplete and that Penry should be re-sentenced.