Crime rhetoric springs eternal in AG race
Analysis
By ALAN HARRIS
Of tha Emerald
Candidates for the Oregon
attorney general's office tradi
tionally fail to inform the public
of the real powers and duties of
the office, and this year’s can
didates are no exception.
But Rep. David Frohnmayer,
R-Eugene, and Democrat Harl
Haas, Multnomah County’s dis
trict attorney, don’t deserve too
much of the blame. Their cam
paigns understandably cater to
the public’s mostly faulty per
ception of the office.
Libertarian Terry McCauley
also has entered the race but is
running a low-key campaign.
The attorney general writes
opinions on legal questions in
which the state or a public
agency may have an interest.
The requests for opinions come
from the governor, any state
agency, official or legislator.
The attorney general also
heads the Department of Jus
tice, which has nine operating
divisions: Appellate, Antitrust,
Char*able Trust, Criminal Jus
tice ind Special Investigation,
Trial, Tax, Consumer Protec
tion, General Counsel and Sup
port Enforcement Divisions.
Consequently, the attorney
general heads the largest law
firm in the state. According to
current Attorney General
James Brown, approximately
110 attorneys work full-time for
the justice department.
Add approximately 20 full
time investigators, and the of
fice’s immense potential poli
tical clout becomes clear. In
clout, the attorney general is
subordinate only to the gover
nor.
Brown, who was appointed by
Gov. Vic Atiyeh in March when
James Redden took a federal
judgeship, says because his of
fice’s attorneys work on a day
to-day basis with state adminis
trators, it's "important for them
to play it straight. There is a
whole lot of (political) lever
age."
Brown says the attorney gen
eral and his employees are
strictly lawyers, although they
do have the authority to initiate
legislation in three areas: anti
trust, consumer protection and
support enforcement.
In all other questions they on
ly provide constitutional data
and let their clients — the
governor or state employees —
make the policy decisions.
These duties have little to do
with the eternal "law and order"
rhetoric that springs from most
attorney general races.
The attorney general can ex
press his personal views on any
subject, especially if he is asked
to do so by the public. But bud
getary and legal constraints
determine how he actually af
fects policy.
For example, from the 1979
attorney general’s budget of
$14,188,825, only $392,500 was
Garage
Continued from Page 1
“It's a rare situation to have a
man come in and be offended,”
Frazer says.
"Sometimes they’ll be sur
Correction
An article that appeared in
Monday’s Emerald contained
a factual error about the
Oregon Smoking Control Pro
gram.
The program offers six-week
sessions that meet for one and
one-half hours per week. The
fee for the six-week program is
$20.
prised, but not hostile. They feel
really relaxed and say 'Here’s
my car. Take it. I don't know
anything about it.' And seem
really glad not to have to get into
the male ego thing with the me
chanic.”
The cooperative’s members
are trying to set up an associa
tion of women mechanics.
Frazer says they hope to
change such things as sexist
advertisements in automotive
trade magazines.
Many of Country Volks
wagen's women customers are
aware of the hurdles involved in
running an all-female enterprise
and they try to be supportive.
Cooperative members return
the support by showing cus
tomers how to take care of their
automobiles and how to do
minor repair work themselves.
"Many women come in here
who’ve been lied to and over
charged," Frazer says. "Some
times they have a defensive at
titude. We try to explain to them,
in terms they’ll understand,
what’s wrong with their car and
what it will take to fix it."
She probably could make
more money elsewhere, Frazer
says.
“But we are here because we
like working on cars. We enjoy
helping people.”
spent for criminal appeals.
$186,689 went for district attor
ney assistance. No other ex
penditure headings would ap
ply to fighting crime.
On the issue of prison con
struction legislation, Brown and
other informed sources indicate
the attorney general has no
legislative jurisdiction in the
matter.
However, the attorney gener
al can interest one of the state’s
90 legislators in a pet project
and have them introduce legis
lation.
In past public forums involv
ing attorney general can
didates, questions invariably
centered around crime unless
the candidates redirected the
discussion. This experience
prompted one former attorney
general candidate to question
whether he was running for
sheriff or warden.
But the public's perception of
the attorney general's office is
the key, and the candidates kill
two birds with one stone by
campaigning against crime
They appeal to the greater part
of the public that is uninformed
but looks for a person of high
morals and integrity.
Those qualities also appeal to
the smaller, informed part of the
electorate that looks for a can
didate who will not put self-in
terests before the duties of an
influential state office.
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