Gov. John Kitzhaber’s Office It’s only the first week of December, and already a powerful man with white facial hair has left local officials’ wish list in tatters.* In the budget he released on Monday, Gov. John Kitzhaber ignored the pleas of Oregon’s most populous counties [pdf], who’d asked the governor to put way more […]
Courts
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No Charges for Protestors Arrested on Saturday
A packed courtroom at the Multnomah County Justice Center cleared out in an instant, this morning, when it came time for protestors arrested at a rally this weekend to face charges. Turns out, there are no charges. A deputy district attorney read off the names attached to “no complaints,” cases where cops made arrests but […]
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Chicagoans Will Steer Portland Police Reform (But a Former Oregon Supreme Court Justice is Also On Board)
Note: News Editor Denis “C” Theriault wrote much of this post, but was busy being important on the radio during this morning’s press conference. Dirk VanderHart Mayor Charlie Hales and Commissioner Amanda Fritz talk police abuses, and progress Reforming Portland’s historically taze-happy and insensitive police bureau is one of the most important things going. And […]
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Why Are Portland’s Top Justice Officials Fighting a Requirement for Testing Costly Court Programs?
Zack Soto EVERYONE CLAPPED two months ago, as Kayla Ballew strolled up to a courthouse lectern in downtown Portland to accept a rarefied piece of paper. The certificate announced the 22-year-old had completed START Court, a treatment program run out of Multnomah County Circuit Court aimed at addicts with a penchant for theft. Ballew, a […]
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Police Spokesman: Spitting Arrest Was Legit
The Portland Police Bureau had its share of media attention to deal with yesterday, and when we called the bureau’s primary spokesman about a homeless woman who was arrested and charged for spitting in a downtown encounter, Sgt. Pete Simpson could only offer cursory comment. We wanted to know how he squared spitting on the […]
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30 Years for Man FBI Enticed Into Pioneer Courthouse Square Bomb Plot
Some eighteen months after his conviction in an FBI-led plot to blow up Pioneer Courthouse Square in 2010, Mohamed Mohamud stood before the federal judge who was about to sentence him and offered up an apology. “The things I said and did were terrible,” Mohamud told US District Court Judge Garr King’s courtroom, the Oregonian […]
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Courts Do Battle Over Typo in Obamacare
If, like me, you woke up this morning to the alarming news that a couple of activist judges basically curb-stomped Obamacare to death, you might want to read this ThinkProgress post, which explains the thinking behind the ruling: The two Republicans’ decision rests on a glorified typo in the Affordable Care Act itself. Obamacare gives […]
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City Attorneys Basically Dare Federal Judge to Reject Police Reform Deal over Procedural Imbroglio
With just days before US District Judge Michael Simon gets ready to decide the fate of police reform in Portland, attorneys for the city and the Portland Police Association have submitted lengthy legal defenses of their attempt to push the case through without giving Simon precisely what he wants: annual courtroom updates from the city, […]
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Must-Read: Judge Michael McShane’s Gut-Punching Ruling on Marriage Equality
Today’s historic ruling on marriage equality by US District Court Judge Michael McShane might have been cautiously, optimistically expected—no judge anywhere has defended marriage bans since the Defense of Marriage Act was dismantled last year. But it still managed to pack a heartfelt wallop. Not only did McShane cannily eschew a “heightened scrutiny” standard for […]
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UPDATED: Judge Casts Down Oregon’s Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
denis c. theriault Janine Nelson and Deanna Geiger embrace after their wedding ceremony in the county building. Their suit, filed in October, put Oregon’s marriage ban before a federal judge. Same-sex couples have the right to marry in the state of Oregon. In a ruling issued this afternoon, as promised, US District Court Judge Michael […]
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Advocates: Ruling on Marriage Equality in Oregon Due at Noon Monday
Illustration by Leo Zarosinski Almost two weeks ago, the advocates pushing to legalize same-sex marriage in Oregon this year were glumly contemplating a worst-case scenario. A national group was trying to tangle a federal court case that’s expected give Oregonians the right to marry anyone they want—potentially forcing advocates to push ahead with an expensive […]
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Anti-Camping/Structures Laws Can Now Be Used to Arrest People
Adam Wickham The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office has formally scrapped a controversial enforcement program aimed at problematic nuisance crimes. But to say the Chronic Offender Pilot Project is dead isn’t quite accurate. Its heart beats on in a robust new enforcement policy unveiled by the DA’s office today, and the consequences might be big […]