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News
Street Roots • April 1 -7, 2016
Branded by Measure 11
Oregon is one of 15 states where prosecutors alone can decide whether to try a youth as an
adult — and across Oregon it’s happening to black and Latino teens disproportionately
BY EMILY GREEN
STAFF WRITER
hen administrators summoned
15-year-old Keeshawn Bullitt to the
main office at Grant High School on
Feb. 9 to ask him about the armed robbery
he committed, he said he had no idea what
they were talking about
But there was no mistake, and Portland
police arrested the soft-spoken sophomore
at the Northeast Portland school the
following morning.
The charges stemmed from an incident at
the high school five days earlier. Shortly
after last period, Bullitt and three of his
classmates, Rico Cabrera, 15, Saadiq
Ducloux, 16, and Charlie Tzab, 16,
surrounded a freshman and demanded he
hand over his money.
Their target Miroslav Lysak, thought it
was a joke at first but became fearful when
he saw Ducloux was pointing a pocketknife
at him, according to court documents. They
searched Lysak’s pockets and shoved him,
then walked away, empty-handed and
laughing. ..
Lysak' told his- mother about the incident,
and she phoned police. :
.
In response, the Multnomah County
District Attorney’s Office charged Bullitt and
each of his accomplices with six counts of
felony armed robbery in the first and second
PHOTO BY DIEGO DIAZ
degrees.
At age 15, Keeshawn Bullitt was charged as an adult under Measure 11 in connection with a crime at Grant High School. Bullitt — who hopes
In Oregon, these charges are Measure 11
to be a veterinarian one day — took a plea deal, and if he stays out of trouble, he’ll be able to expunge his criminal record in three years.
crimes, which carry lengthy mandatory
minimum sentences. This also meant the
The authors of the report acknowledged
that analyzed data on 3,274 youths indicted
four teens would be tried in adult court
juvenile court.
that, while pleas are necessary in Oregon’s
on Measure 11 offenses. They determined
Oregon voters passed Measure 11 in
As Multnomah County takes steps to
overburdened court system, because these
that 6 out of 10 youths charged under
November 1994. It dictates that juveniles
move away from mass incarceration and
youths are in adult court, “there is little
Measure 11 are convicted of less serious
age 15 and older be automatically tried in
seeks to usher racial equality into its
opportunity for the back-and-forth
crimes after plea negotiations.
adult court and face a mandatory minimum
criminal justice system, Measure 11 serves
discussions that might happen in a juvenile
Critics say this begs the
as an antiquated holdover from the tough-on- sentence if the prosecutor
question: Should those
courtroom - where the needs of the victim,
charges them with one of
crime era of the 1990s. Data show
juveniles have been
the community and the young person can be
21 Measure 11 crimes.
Multnomah County prosecutors use
"It gives district at«
charged with Measure 11
identified and balanced.”
These crimes range from
Measure 11, without any oversight from
assault and robbery to
in the first place?
Bullitt and his codefendants took the
other arms of the judicial department, to
tomeys all the power
The
study,
Misguided
prosecutor
’s offer and pleaded no-contest to
rape and murder.
send youths, primarily minorities, into the
to drop the bomb and
Measures, found using
While in most states the then see what they can
third-degree robbery, a non-Measure 11
adult court system.
decision to move a juvenile
Measure 11 against teens
crime.
If Bullitt and his classmates were found
plead down to later on.
into adult court requires a
doesn’t lower the crime
“Frankly one of the problems with this
guilty of just one of those six counts, they
Measure 11 shifted all
rate.
hearing, Oregon is one of
Ballot Measure 11,” said Cabrera’s attorney,
would spend at least five years and 10
power away from judges,
Counties that convicted
15 states where a
Tyl Bakker, “is that it ultimately takes the
months in prison - the mandatory minimum
prosecuting attorney can
discretion, which has historically been with
sentence for second-degree robbery.
all power away from the more juveniles under
make the decision to try a various other systems, to Measure 11 did not see
the judges, away from them, and gives it to
Parents and teachers agreed that what
better public safety or a
youth as an adult.
the district attorney’s office.
they did was inexcusable, but the district
prosecutors."
drop in juvenile crime
“It gives district
“They were charged with robbery - that
attorney’s decision to charge the four boys -
ANDY KÒi when compared with
attorneys all the power to
would
be a 70-month, day-for-day, mandatory
none of whom had a prior criminal history -
DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIP FOR
SAFETY AND JUSTICE counties that convicted
drop the bomb and then
as adults sent shockwaves through their
minimum sentence,” he said. “It makes it a
fewer youths under
see what they can plead
difficult choice for kids in that position to
community.
Measure 11.
down to later on,” said
decide, ‘I’d like to go to trial and litigate the
The staff at Grant Magazine, the high
It also determined that
Andy Ko, director of
thing.’ I think that’s probably the thinking
school’s student-run periodical, soon began
Partnership for Safety and Justice. “Measure prosecutors, not judges or juries, made the
behind these young men agreeing to resolve
working on an exposé to explain Oregon’s
final decision in 92 percent of the cases in
the case.”
Measure 11 mandatory minimum sentencing 11 shifted all power away from judges, all
which a youth was facing a Measure 11
power away from the various other systems,
Bullitt and his family said they felt they
to a perplexed student body.
mandatory minimum sentence, with nine
had no choice but to take the prosecutor’s
Dozens of letters from the boys’ teachers, to prosecutors, and that’s what it was
out of 10 youths taking the prosecutor’s
intended to do. It was very calculated.”
offer. A trial could have resulted in a long
coaches, family members and friends’
offered plea deal rather than taking their
Ko’s organization co-authored a report
parehts came pouring in, all begging the
chances with a jury.
with Campaign for Youth Justice in 2011
district attorney to move the case into
W
See JUVENILE, page 5