By david rogers The Oregon District Attorneys’ Association (ODAA) recently had their summer conference, but not everyone was happy with the speakers. The association flew in the chief prosecuting attorney from St. Louis County, Missouri, Bob McCulloch. McCulloch had just made news because he lost his re-election bid in what was the hottest race in
By david rogers Budgets are more than just numbers on a page. Agency budgets should be a reflection of the values and vision for the kinds of outcomes we want to see in our communities. But when examining the Multnomah County district attorney budget, the values and vision are murky at best. Today, we, along
By Doug Brown Washington County civil rights advocates flocked to the Hillsboro Civic Center auditorum Saturday morning for the Washington County district attorney candidate forum, hosted by the ACLU of Oregon, Unite Oregon, and the Coalition of Communities of Color. For the first time since 1972, Washington County voters have more than one option for
By david rogers & Daniel Lewkow The role of the district attorney is being redefined all around the country. In Oregon, confidence in district attorneys is in freefall, plummeting 15 percentage points in just one year, according to an independent DHM research poll. In Texas, half of all sitting district attorneys in contested primaries just
By Daniel Lewkow The Oregon Council on Civil Rights recently released a groundbreaking report that ought to change our criminal justice system. The independent, fact-based, non-partisan study found that Oregon district attorneys often charge young people in a way that is “harsh and costly” and “at odds with a contemporary brain science.” It recommends that
By david rogers Yesterday, reporters discovered that a website was being built by Multnomah County District Attorney (DA) Rod Underhill and, perhaps, the Oregon District Attorneys Association (ODAA). The website was quickly taken down, but the mistake forced Underhill to go on the record and prematurely reveal plans for a potential ballot measure to revise
May 9, 2017- by David Rogers, Executive Director. Do you know who your district attorney is? If you do, you are among a very small percentage of the public. District attorneys (DAs) are arguably the most powerful people in the criminal justice system, but the public doesn’t know who they are. Why does this matter?
March 1, 2017 — Oregon voters overwhelmingly support a proposal to reduce penalties for drug possession, according to a new poll. The poll comes as a new bill, Oregon HB 2355, supported by Oregon Attrney General Ellen Rosenblum and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon (ACLU of Oregon,) would change small-scale drug possession to a misdemeanor instead
July 9, 2015 – by David Rogers, Executive Director. There are some serious problems we need to tackle in our criminal justice system, like dramatic prison growth and spending in the U.S. We are dumping billions of dollars into locking people up while ignoring the strategies best designed to create safe and healthy communities. Meanwhile,