House gets tough on crime:
sets mandatory sentences
By TOM JACKSON
Of the Emerald
SALEM — Crime and correc
tion are issues over which the
Oregon lawmakers struggle virtu
ally every legislative session.
This session the Legislature is
calling for tougher sentences for
people convicted of certain
crimes. The new tact taken by the
Legislature is the initiation of
mandatory minimum sentences
for some crimes.
The House passed three bills
Thursday which were hammered
out by the Judiciary Committee
after long weeks of work. The
House also passed a victim's
compensation bill. All of them now
will be considered by the Senate.
One of the bills is aimed at pre
venting violent crime Under HB
3041, if a person uses or
threatens to use a gun (whether it
is operable or not) while commit
ting a crime, the bill allows the
court to specify a minimum sen
tence, although it does not require
a mandatory sentence for the first
conviction. However, on the sec
ond conviction a mandatory
minimum of five years is required.
The third and fourth conviction re
quire mandatory convictions of 10
and 30 years, respectively.
The bill was presented as a
mmonty report to the House Wed
nesday from the Judiciary Com
mittee. The original committee bill
called for a mandatory two-year
sentence for the first conviction
and a mandatory life sentence on
the fourth conviction. The House
rejected the committee bill in favor
of the minority report Wednesday.
Rep. Bill Rutherford,
R-McMinneville, said the bill is
aimed at deterring the use of
weapons in crimes. “This bill will
send the message to people who
plan to use guns that Oregon will
be very severe and tough oh
them. But it is a very reasonable
approach to this very serious prob
lem."
Rep. Wally Priestly, D-Portland,
disagreed saying the bill serves
“no constructive purpose and will
cause more hardened criminals to
be released into society.”
The bill also provides that per
sons convicted of crimes involving
the use of a gun would have no
access to parole or work release
until the minimum sentence is
completed.
Under another bill, HB 2011, if a
person is hired to commit murder
or uses a bomb to commit murder
he or she would face a mandatory
life sentence with no chance of
parole or work release. If a police
officer is murdered or if a person
murders in the course of commit
ting a robbery or sex offense,
parole or work release may be
considered after the first 20 years
of the life sentence.
Opponents of the bill said man
datory life sentences provide no
incentive to rehabilitation. Priestly
called the bill “a political decision
which takes us a step backwards
in rehabilitation."
Rep Dave Frohnmayer,
R-Eugene. said the categories in
the bill are "arbitrary.” He added
that the bill would make prisons
ungovernable since there would
be no incentive to reform. “I sup
port tough sentences," he said.
“But this bill is just plain wrong.'
Rep. Mark Gardener,
R-Hillsboro, disagreed saying the
bill still allows the hope of a
governor’s pardon for life sen
tences. “These crimes are so
heinous that the sentence is jus
tified,” he said.
The bill passed in a 46-14 vote,
but Priestly served notice of pos
sible reconsideration.
A third bill, HB 2013, creates a
system of maximum and minimum
sentences for all felons. An Advis
ory Commission on Prison Terms
will propose ranges of sentences
to the State Parole Board. These
ranges will be fixed, but the
criminal’s age, employment re
cord and criminal record will be
taken into account in determining
the sentence.
The bill passed with only one
dissenting vote.
Opponents to these three bills
argued that with population in the
state rising and more criminals
spending more time in the state
penitentiary because of mandat
ory and longer sentences, a new
penitentiary may be needed in the
near future.
The victim's compensation bill,
HB 2012, was labeled a “mes
sage of compassion" by
Frohnmayer, who carried the bill to
the floor. The bill permits the court
to order a convicted criminal to
pay damages to the victim of a
crime. The payment doesn’t have
to be made during the criminal's
imprisonment unless he or she
can afford it. The sentencing
judge can make the payment a
condition of parole, however. The
judge will schedule the payment
plan with the input of the criminal.
“The bill is a way of saying that
our system of justice is not totally
blind," Frohnmayer said.
The bill was passed on a 58-0
vote.
Straub presents new siting plan
SALEM — Gov Bob Straub an
nounced Thursday a plan to pres
ent a bill to the Legislature which
he says will "speed up the siting
process for energy facilities in
Oregon."
Straub's bill, as yet unin
troduced. will remove the power to
create general energy facility sit
ing standards from the Energy
Facility Siting Council (EFSC).
Under the plan, the Legislature
will assume the power of setting
standards for facility siting.
omouO said he penned the bill
as a response to court litigation
over siting of the Pebble Springs
Nuclear plant. “The Pebble
Springs decision has dragged on
too long," he said. "This bill will
eliminate the grounds for long,
drawn-out court challenges on
these general standards.
Straub s bill includes standards
to be used in eneray facility siting.
The bill states that site approval
will only be given for facilities for
which there is a demand, and only
if the facility is more economical
than reasonable alternatives. It
also stipulates that the applicant
must have sufficient funds for
construction and operation of the
power plant.
The standards also call for
minimizing the risk of injury to the
public health and safety as well as
disruption to the environment. The
bill defines, "minimize” to mean:
“to take steps to reduce adverse
consequences which are justifi
able taking economic factors into
consideration.”
The bill also requires facility sit
ing to comply with local land-uso
plans, but stipulates that the
EFSC may waive local plans or
compl ance with statewide plan
ning goals.
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