The Oregon District Attorney Association is taking heat from criminal justice reform advocates for inviting a controversial speaker to its summer conference two weeks ago.

The organization invited St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, who handled the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. McCulloch’s presentation was ill-received by some of the Oregon county prosecutors in the audience, many of whom walked out and refused to attend his keynote speech later in the evening.

Many criminal justice advocates questioned the motivation behind inviting such a controversial figure to be the keynote speaker at the conference.

“The fact that they flew him in as keynote suggests they want to move in a very troubling direction,” says David Rogers, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. “Although, I will say it provides some relief that some attending prosecutors and district attorneys thought that his presence was disturbing and abhorrent.”

Read More (Offsite)