ONE OF THE MOST glaring black spots on Portland’s pristine
liberal consciousness was excised late last week when Police Chief
Rosie Sizer ordered her officers to stop enforcing the controversial
sit-lie law.
Sizer’s decision followed a sweeping constitutional ruling by
Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Bushong on June 19. “I
ruled that [the sit-lie law] is preempted by state law,” says Bushong.
“It prohibits conduct permitted by state law, and that’s not permitted
under article 11, section two of our Oregon Constitution.”
The Portland Business Alliance (PBA) has been the driving force
behind the law, even though PBA Vice President of Downtown Services
Mike Kuykendall continues to insist that the law was not created to
target homeless people. However, 133 of the 170 individuals who
received warnings and citations under the law in its first 13 months
reported being homeless. The city also failed to cite a single business
owner under the ordinance, even though unlicensed sidewalk signs
technically qualify for citation, according to city attorneys.
The PBA did not respond to inquiries seeking comment by press
time.
“It’s great to see the end of this, because it was something that
really looked unfair,” says Patrick Nolen, an activist with Soapbox
Under the Bridge who has fought the law since its inception.
“I’ve been working for a couple of years on this and I’m happy to
see it go away,” he continues. “Although I don’t think that just ‘not
enforcing it’ is the way to go. I think we need to get it off the books
because it’s still an unfair law.”
City Commissioner Amanda Fritz extended the ordinance for six more
months in early May so that she and City Commissioner Nick Fish could
conduct “outreach” around it. Fish was unavailable for comment by press
time, while a Fritz staffer told the Mercury, “The commissioner
is not ready to give interviews yet.”
The status of the planned outreach process remains unclear.
Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman says the city has not yet decided
if it will appeal Bushong’s ruling. Meanwhile City Commissioner Randy
Leonard, who has continued to oppose the ordinance on civil rights
grounds, was busy climbing Mount Hood on press day and could not be
reached for a victory comment. His chief of staff refused to supply
one, either.
Awwww, how cutsie, Portland liberals are letting lazy worthless people, be able to lay around where ever they want. Hey, why dont you guys put an ad in all newspapers, around the U.S. letting every lazy piece of shit come and be taken care of, by the people of Portland for free.
Stupid coment from a typical stupid neocon.
yer mom is lazy and worthless..
-thswillendntears
yer mom obviously has a place to sleep at night, and a place to sit down during the day and make ignorant comments online.
yer mom, why do you hate America and its liberty (to like, you know, be free from harassment if you want to do something like, I dunno, sit down)?
Why would a city that calls itself “liberal” enact such a ludicrous ordinance?
They still intend on enforcing it, who cares what a judge says.
This is the PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF PORTLAND!