Candidates chime in on crime, courts and environment in Oregon’s Dem AG race March 16, 2008
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , add a commentVying to be Oregon’s next attorney general are two Democrats who have promised to raise the profile of the office by aggressively protecting consumers and defending the state’s vast natural resources.
In lengthy interviews with LegalNewsLine, candidates Rep. Greg Macpherson and Professor John Kroger both praised retiring Attorney General Hardy Myers, the 68-year-old Democrat who has quietly led the state Department of Justice since 1996, but each said they would run the agency differently than their predecessor.
“I want to elevate the energy-level and visibility of the Department of Justice,” Macpherson said. “Raising the profile of the office will help Oregonians understand what the Department of Justice is doing for them and can do for them.”
Similarly, Kroger, who teaches criminal law and jurisprudence at Portland’s Lewis & Clark Law School, said he would boost the AG’s profile and use the Department of Justice, with its more than 1,300 employees and $380 million budget, to pursue “corporate polluters” and drug dealers.
“I’m going to use the bully pulpit of the office much more aggressively than Mr. Myers,” Kroger said. “I think it’s important that we have an effective and dynamic communicator in that office who can build political coalitions outside of Salem and talk about big issues and get the public to focus where it needs to focus.”
Although no Republican contenders have entered the GOP race for the $77,000 a year post, the state Republican Party has promised a candidate. Many observers thought that former state Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, who lost to Myers in 2000, might be the one, but he has instead decided to run in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, which is open this year.
Macpherson, 57, is a three-term state legislator from Lake Oswego, Ore., whose father and grandfather both served in the Oregon Legislature. He said he will make neighborhoods safer, protect consumers from flimflam artists and protect a woman’s access to abortion.
“I have a strong track record of having worked on some of the most important and challenging issues the state has had in recent years,” said Macpherson, who has been endorsed by many of his Democratic legislative colleagues.
Macpherson, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, noted his role in drafting a voter-approved initiative aimed at preserving farmland and open-space and leading widely successful efforts to curb methamphetamine manufacturing.
He said he is eager to put recently penned laws into practice that allow the attorney general to be the lead plaintiff in class action lawsuits. Another new statute, he noted, provides remedy for investors who buy variable annuities.
“As attorney general,” Macpherson said, “what I’ll do is to use those new authorities I created as a legislator to make sure we go after bad actors.”
Meanwhile, Kroger, 41, vowed to use his experience as a former federal prosecutor to enforce the state’s environmental laws and go after big-time drug dealers.
“These are areas that need a lot more attention,” said Kroger, who has been endorsed by the Sierra Club of Oregon and 17 county district attorneys.
To go after drug dealers, Kroger said he would “revitalize” the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Section, adding that improved treatment access would also be part of his anti-drug efforts.
“Oregon has one of the least effective drug treatment systems in the whole nation,” Kroger said, noting that the state is 49th in the nation in terms of access to drug treatment for young adults.
Oregon has “good” environmental laws on its books, but those statutes are not enforced aggressively, he said pointing to a Business Week magazine report that labeled Portland, Ore., the third most toxic city in the nation.
“My goal is to really improve the enforcement of our environmental laws, seeking higher penalties when people violate the law and much more aggressive use of criminal laws to protect the environment,” he said.
Taking a swipe at Macpherson, who he said lacks trial experience, Kroger said when voters choose the next attorney general they are electing more than just the state’s legal representative, but also their advocate in court.
Kroger said in his time as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, N.Y., he worked on hundreds of felony cases, including actions against Mafia bosses and drug kingpins. He was also a member of the U.S. Justice Department’s Enron Task Force.
“I come to this job with a lot of experience in court at both the trial and the appellate level, and Greg Macpherson has never tried a case in court,” Kroger said. “I also have a strong law enforcement background and that’s another fundamental difference between us.”
Macpherson, a longtime attorney at the state’s largest law firm, Stoel Rives LLP, specializes in employee health benefits. He said Kroger’s claim that he has never tried a case in court is false.
“I am the only candidate in the race who has represented a client in an Oregon courtroom,” Macpherson said, adding that Kroger was only admitted to the Oregon Bar late last year.
Policy distinctions
As for fundamental policy differences between Kroger and Macpherson, the two differ on whether more of the Justice Department’s jobs should be relocated to Portland, the state’s major population center.
Kroger said such a move would help the agency recruit and retain attorneys, in particular. Macpherson, however, said he would rather “expand opportunities for remote access” for the attorneys so they don’t have to work always from the department’s Salem headquarters.
A striking difference between the two relates to Oregon’s voter-approved mandatory sentencing law for violent crimes, outlined in Measure 11.
Macpherson said unlike Kroger, he believes that policymakers ought to be “open to changes” to the law, particularly because the state’s prison population has exploded since its passage in 1994.
“We’ve seen that Oregon’s prison population has more than doubled over the last dozen years, and it has made it very hard to support other public services we depend on like schools and even other public safety programs,” Macpherson said.
Endorsements matter
Oregon State University political science Professor Bill Lunch said unlike other statewide contests, voters rely heavily on endorsements in the race for attorney general, partly because of a lack of understanding for the AG’s function.
“This is one of those relatively obscure offices from the point of the view of the man or woman on the street; so, voters rely more on endorsements for attorney general more than they might for other offices,” Lunch said in an interview from his Corvallis, Ore., office.
Lunch said not surprisingly, Kroger is backed by most of the state’s powerful unions, given Macpherson’s principal role in overhauling the state’s Public Employees Retirement System, parts of which have since been struck down by the state Supreme Court.
The plan, which was vehemently opposed by public employee unions, reduced benefits to help keep the PERS system solvent amid billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities.
“The unions were not happy to say the least,” Lunch said. “And, the unions feel it is payback time for what Macpherson did back in 2003.”
Among groups that have lined up to support Kroger are the Oregon Education Association, the Service Employees International Union and the Carpenters Local Unions. Kroger also is backed by former Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber and state Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner.
Macpherson, meanwhile, has the support of Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski, state Treasurer Randall Edwards, state Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo and U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore.
As for a Republican jumping into the race, Lunch said the GOP will likely introduce a candidate by Tuesday’s 5 p.m. PT campaign filing deadline.
“Even if somebody has to be heavily recruited (by Republicans) they have to have somebody credible running,” Lunch said. He added that 2008 might not be a good year for Republicans in the Beaver State given its left-leaning electorate.
“The Democrats tend to dominate statewide contests, and any sensible Republican politician who is looking to move up – from the House or Senate – and run for statewide office probably wouldn’t pick 2008 to do it,” Lunch said.
He added, “The political climate just isn’t good for Republicans. You have a Republican president in the White House with approval ratings that at the very best are in the low 30s and an economy that is headed downhill.”
Initiatives could boost incarcerations in state March 3, 2008
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , add a commentOregon was among the states in the 1990s that led the way toward mandatory minimum prison terms for violent criminals.
But unless voters reject both pending ballot measures in the fall, Oregon will not be among the states lessening penalties on drug dealers, burglars and other property offenders.
A ballot initiative sponsored by Kevin Mannix of Salem and approved by voters as Measure 11 in 1994 imposed minimum sentences on people convicted of 16 violent crimes. The number of affected crimes has risen to 24, three of them added by the Legislature in 2006.
Another ballot initiative, also sponsored by Mannix and submitted for the Nov. 4 election, would impose minimum sentences on first-time property and drug offenders. Mannix already has submitted about 150,000 signatures, 83,000 of which are required to qualify it.
The Legislature’s February session responded by sending voters an alternative that lengthens sentences for larger-volume drug dealers and repeat property offenders. It also ties in drug treatment for many offenders.
“We need treatment as well as incarceration,” said Rep. Greg Macpherson, D-Lake Oswego, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Virtually every major law-enforcement group backed the alternative incorporated in Senate Bill 1087, but Mannix backed away from the negotiations and stuck to his original initiative.
“It’s not like we’re adding anything to the package in exchange for reductions, just do a little less here and there,” Mannix said during the legislative session.
Measure 11, which took effect in April 1995, has led to a near-doubling of the state prison population. The system total at the start of February was 13,532, of which about 40 percent are housed for Measure 11 crimes. Mannix said that those figures are still below projections made in the 1990s.
The Oregon Youth Authority is holding 169 people on Measure 11 crimes. The law allows the agency to hold some young offenders until age 25, when they are transferred to the state prison system.
According to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, Mannix’s property-crimes initiative would add 4,000 to 6,000 inmates at a cost estimated at $256 million to $400 million more in the 2009-11 budget cycle.
The legislative alternative is not cheap, either. According to state estimates, it would add 1,400 to 1,700 inmates to the system from 2009 to 2013. The added cost would be $62 million to the Department of Corrections budget in 2009-11, and $106 million in 2011-13, plus about $40 million more in each cycle for treatment of drug and alcohol addiction.
If both measures pass Nov. 4, the one that gets more votes will take effect.
Prisons lock in chunk of budget March 2, 2008
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , add a commentOregon spends a bigger percentage of its state budget to lock up criminals and supervise their parole than any other state, according to a new study that examined three decades of prison growth across America.
And if Oregon voters approve one of two tough-on-crime measures on the November ballot, that distinction will become more pronounced.
A study by Pew Center on the States found that for the first time in U.S. history, more than one in 100 adults is in prison or a local jail. The cause: longer criminal sentences that have seen the nation’s prison population nearly triple since 1987 to 1.6 million inmates.
Oregon has seen a faster growth in prison inmates, from about 4,000 to more than 13,500.
The main reason in Oregon: Measure 11, the 1994 initiative that set mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes. It is responsible for 28 percent of today’s prison population.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski said through a spokeswoman that one of the government’s primary responsibilities is to protect its citizens, but prisons should only be part of the answer.
“The governor doesn’t believe that the only way to reduce crime is by just building more prisons,” said Anna Richter Taylor.
The November ballot will give voters a choice in attacking crime and punishment. Both measures increase penalties for drug dealers, burglars, car thieves and identity thieves.
An initiative by Republican activist Kevin Mannix would impose mandatory prison sentences for those crimes and add 4,000 to 6,000 new inmates at a taxpayer cost of $128 million to $200 million a year.
The Oregon Legislature last week sent an alternative measure to the Nov. 4 ballot that targets repeat offenders. It would add about 1,600 new inmates at a cost of $50 million a year. The legislative proposal also includes $20 million a year for drug and alcohol treatment and county jails and parole officers.
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Volunteers Needed – Home For Good in Oregon
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , add a commentAs HGO has grown we recognized the need to increase the number of people who were trained as trainers to provide ODOC approved community-based volunteer training. The purpose is to increase the pool of ODOC community-trained volunteers in each county throughout the State so that the mentoring and support needs of individuals releasing from prison can be met.
Early January we provided training to the institutional chaplains serving releasing or minimum institutions and the HGO Regional Chaplains. We, now, have about 25 trained trainers. Each of them, working closely with the HGO Regional and Community chaplains, are beginning to set dates for community-based volunteer training.
In order to make the training dates available we have created a list of scheduled trainings that is posted on the internet at the following website:
http://www.oregon.gov/DOC/TRANS/religious_services/rs_hgo_program.shtml
By going to this site you will be able to see scheduled dates for ODOC approved community volunteer training and the county where the training is to be giving. Because we are building up teams of trained individuals and organizations in each county able to provide support to those releasing from prison we are restricting training to individuals from the particular county where the training is scheduled. If your county does not have an ODOC community volunteer training scheduled please contact your county HGO Community Chaplain, an institutional chaplain or the HGO office in Salem to get one scheduled. Those who complete this training will be identified in the ODOC volunteer databank and provided ODOC approved community volunteer IDs. These IDs will not give access to prisons but will serve to show that the individuals is an ODOC community trained volunteer and, when providing services under HGO supervision, covered by the State’s liability insurance plan.
For those who become mentors in their counties their names will be added to an approved list of community mentors. Those on the approved list of community mentors will be given visiting privileges to any inmate in the ODOC system for the purpose of establishing a mentoring relationship. Those on the Approved Community Mentor List will be able to present themselves at ODOC institutions and have the same visiting privileges as an attorney. Mentor visits will not count against the inmates visiting points. Again, only individuals who have completed the ODOC Community volunteer training and been identified by the HGO Regional or county teams will be listed on the ODOC Approved Community Mentor list.
Those who are part of and trained by an existing mentoring organization can, also, become ODOC community trained volunteers and put on the Approved Community Mentor list. That volunteer and their organization will then become part of the HGO network and their volunteers who have received ODOC community volunteer training will become part of the HGO information network and receive ODOC generated information pertinent to those assigned for mentoring. Organizations interested in becoming part of the HGO volunteer and information network should contact an institutional chaplain for more information or contact the HGO office in Salem (503-945-0929).
We welcome any and all of you who wish to become part of the HGO network of individuals and organizations serving communities by providing support and services to those releasing from prison to contact the HGO office for further information (503-945-9087).
Oregon leads U.S. in prison spending March 1, 2008
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , add a commentOregon spends a bigger percentage of its state budget to lock up criminals and supervise their parole than any other state, according to a new study that examined three decades of prison growth across America.
The main reason: Measure 11, the 1994 initiative that set mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes. It is responsible for 28 percent of today’s prison population.
The November ballot will let voters decide whether to attack crime and punishment further. Both measures increase penalties for drug dealers, burglars, car thieves and identity thieves.
An initiative by Republican activist Kevin Mannix would impose mandatory prison sentences for those crimes and add 4,000 to 6,000 new inmates at a taxpayer cost of $128 million to $200 million a year.
The Oregon Legislature last week sent an alternative measure to the Nov. 4 ballot that targets repeat offenders. It would add about 1,600 new inmates at a cost of $50 million a year. The legislative proposal also includes $20 million a year for drug and alcohol treatment and county jails and parole officers.
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