Last year, Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill assured Portlanders his office did not communicate with federal immigration agents. “The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office does not notify or alert immigration officials or agencies regarding witnesses, victims or defendants with whom we come into contact,” he said in a statement in January 2017. Underhill made
A seemingly innocuous case against a Portland police sergeant may set a new precedent for how far the county’s top lawyer will go to protect cops—and how little the citizen-led police oversight board can do about it. When a Portlander brings a potentially criminal complaint against an officer, it’s Portland Police Bureau (PPB) procedure to
Fewer than half of all Oregonians have faith in the American justice system, according to a new survey conducted by DHM Research. The poll found that only 49 percent of state residents believe the system is working to determine guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal cases. Forty-one percent say it is not working and
DALLAS — If you can’t win big, go small. That’s the strategy gaining momentum among criminal justice reformers in the age of Trump, as the federal government hardens its approach to law enforcement. Instead of pouring money and energy into squeezing change out of Washington, national civil rights organizations are teaming with local groups to
Oregon’s longstanding policy of treating juvenile offenders accused of serious crimes as adults is “harsh and costly” and fails to account for adolescents’ capacity for change, the Oregon Council on Civil Rights says in a new report issued Tuesday. The seven-member council reviewed Measure 11’s impact on young offenders. The law spells out mandatory minimum
The Oregon District Attorneys Association last week announced plans to lead a ballot campaign to abolish the state’s unusual practice of allowing nonunanimous juries to decide some felony cases. The move is long overdue, and the association’s action is welcome. And, on a day when we celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King
If mass incarceration were an effective way to fight crime, then one would expect to see a strong correlation between higher rates of incarceration and reduced crime. States have been running a live experiment of sorts on this over the past several years, reforming their criminal justice systems to, in short, punish people less punitively
The revelation that Oregon’s district attorneys are proposing an end to non-unanimous jury convictions may have obscured the full scope of prosecutors’ intentions on changing the state constitution. The Oregon District Attorneys Association is considering a ballot initiative that would also strip defendants of the right to waive a jury trial and ask for a
Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote is suing the state in the hopes of stopping a new law that will cut and modify sentences for eligible property thieves. The law is part of a wider effort to reduce prison population. The law would shorted sentences for some identity theft and first degree theft, especially women
District attorneys are the most powerful elected players in the criminal justice system, yet most people don’t know who they are or what they do. Karen James interviews David Rogers, Executive Director, ACLU of Oregon and Daniel Lewkow, manager of THEY REPORT TO YOU, ACLU’s new campaign to educate the public about DAs, who they