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Horrifying Twist on a Crime

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Horrifying Twist on a Crime<br><h6>Mic</h6>

The horrifying but legal way an Oregon sexual assault victim wound up in jail

In Oregon, a sexual assault victim is sitting in prison, waiting to testify in the trial of a man she accused of habitually coercing her into sex.

If that sounds in all ways counter-intuitive, that’s because it is — in what world does the victim land behind bars for a crime committed against her? And yet, it happens, thanks to a seldom-employed maneuver called a material witness hold or a material witness warrant, generally reserved for cases in which the prosecutor needs, but cannot count on, a very important witness to testify.

Material witness holds must be ordered by a judge, but rarely are — and it’s rarer still that the witness is a sexual assault victim. Still, it happens, and it’s damaging, both to the criminal justice system and the survivor.

“I think when you’re looking at crime victims, it’s a particularly horrible idea to try to use the material witness order,” Sandra Park — senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project — said in a phone interview…

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  • ACLU OF OREGON CALLS ON LEGISLATURE TO PASS HB 3224, REQUIRING ALL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS TO CREATE WRITTEN POLICIES
    April 16, 2019 - 9:52 pm
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    April 9, 2019 - 10:36 pm
  • Prosecutors Sometimes Behave Badly. Now They May Be Held to Account.
    April 5, 2019 - 10:34 pm
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  • ABOUT
  • GET THE FACTS
  • ISSUES
  • DA ELECTIONS
  • TAKE ACTION
  • RESOURCES
  • ABOUT
    • Who We Are
    • Contact Us
    • Why DAs Matter
  • GET THE FACTS
    • What Is a DA?
    • What Makes a DA So Powerful?
    • Who Holds DAs Accountable?
    • Who’s My DA?
    • FAQs
  • ISSUES
    • Police Accountability
    • Mandatory Minimums
  • DA ELECTIONS
    • How They Work
    • Roadblocks To Reform
    • The Governor’s Role
  • TAKE ACTION
    • Sign the Voter Pledge
    • Share Your Story
    • Request A Speaker
    • Contact Us
  • RESOURCES
    • Press Releases
    • Media Stories
    • Videos
    • Blog