Street roots., August 31, 2018, Page 7, Image 7

Street Roots • Aug, 31-Sept. 6,2018
News
Page 7
Oregon DOJ drops
criminal prosecution
o f ‘sanctuary'repeal
signature gatherers
Its investigation concluded
there was insufficient evidence
supporting complaint alleging
voters were misled into
signing the petition
Teens do better outside oldetc
says attorney DeAnnlHorne,
who will participate i | a ganel
exploring the impact jjrf tilin g
youths as adults,las well
as reform efforts Fled |
by state lawmakers I
BY EMILY GREEN
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
again at that time to see if it’s really
necessary to make the transfer,
McCullough said.
«
“When they’re in Oregon Youth
Authority facilities, they have really robust
programs for teaching those young people
life skills and really getting them prepared
to be able to leave the facility and be
successful, healthy members of our
society,” she said. “There is a lot of
concern about those youth having all of the
progress that they’ve made in an Oregon
Youth Authority facility undone when they
head to Department of Corrections and
they spend time there.”
The League of Women Voters of
Portland is kicking off a series of civic
education programs with a panel focused
on the impacts of Measure 11 on juvenile
justice. The panel, at 7 p.m. S ept 11 at the
Multnomah County Building, is free and
open to the public.
At the event, McCullough will join Babak
Zolfaghari of Community Healing Initiative
and attorney DeAnna Horne in sharing
stories about how Measure 11 has affected
Oregon youths. The panelists will also talk
through potential legislative fixes they
think would better serve youths in the
criminal justice system and then take
questions from the audience.
Home, who co-chairs the Oregon
Criminal Defense law yers Association’s
legislative committee, recently sat down
F | \ h e Oregon Department of Justice
I said Wednesday it has insufficient
A evidence to move forward with the
criminal prosecution of signature gatherers
accused of lying to students at Portland
State University in order to obtain
signatures to put a controversial initiative
on the ballot.
The initiative, which will give Oregon
voters the option to repeal Oregon’s
30-year-old sanctuary status limiting local
law enforcement’s ability to use resources
to enforce federal immigration laws, is now
headed for the November ballot as
Measure 165.
Street Roots first reported on complaints
alleging signature gatherers working for
Ballot Access LLC were lying to Portiand-
area voters to get signatures in February.
That’s when an incident at Portland
State University prompted student Robin
Fisher to file a formal complaint with the
Oregon Secretary of State’s Office. This
complaint was referred to the Oregon
Department of Justice for a criminal
investigation.
Fisher told Street Roots a man working
for Ballot Access LLC explained he was
collecting signatures for “a ballot initiative
to protect the sanctuary-state status of
Oregon and stop Donald Trump from
making decisions for Oregonians.”
A video recording showing that the
signature gatherer seemed to be
misinformed about what the measure
would do was deemed inadmissible
because Fisher made the recording without
the signature gatherer’s knowledge.
According to a letter sent to the
Secretary of State’s Office from the
Department of Justice, witnesses
interviewed during the course of the
investigation into Fisher’s complaint gave
“differing versions of the circulators’
statements.”
The complaint has been referred back to
the Secretary of State’s Office, which could
pursue the complaint as a civil matter.
Fisher’s was not the only formal
complaint filed that related to signature
gatherers working on the anti-sanctuary
measure for Ballot Access LLC.
While several other similar complaints
were filed with the Secretary of State’s
Office in relation to the anti-sanctuary
status initiative; none are under criminal
investigation with the Department of
Justice. The Department of Justice is,
See MEASURE 11, page 11
See PETITION, page 11
DeAnnaDorne, who co^j^frs
Criminal Defense Lawyers A$g
legislative committee, hat^worl
Metropolitan Pubtic Defenders
BY EM ILY GREEN
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
If YOU GO
WHAT: Panel on the impacts of
regon’s practice of automatically
Measure 11 on juvenile justice, hosted
trying 15-, 16- and 17-year olds as
adults when they’re charged with a
by the League of Women Voters of
crime that carries a mandatory minimum Portland
sentence under Measure 11 may be
WHEN: 7 p.m. Sept 11
challenged in this year’s legislative session.
It’s one of four broad areas of reform to
WHERE: Multnomah County Building,
how Measure 11 is applied to juveniles that
501SE Hawthorne Blvd.
is Under review by stakeholder workgroups,
COST: Free
including state corrections and county
prosecutor groups, as well as justice reform
advocates. Oregon Sens. Michael Dembrow
and face a mandatory minimum sentence
(D-Portland) and Floyd Prozanski
when charged with any one of 21 Measure
(D-Eugene) are leading the effort
11 crimes. These crimes range from
While the details of the legislation are
second-degree assault and robbery to rape
still being fleshed out, these workgroups
and murder.
are examining opportunities for granting
According to a report from the Oregon
early release to youths serving Measure 11
Council on Civil Rights earlier this year,
sentences and giving all people sentenced
Oregon has the nation’s second-highest
to life in prison for a crime they committed
rate of sending youths to adult court, with
while they were a juvenile the possibility of
nearly 4,000 juveniles tried as adults
parole.
between 1994 and 2012.
“We’re looking at making sure the court
The other category of reform under
is considering the right factors when
consideration would address the transfer of
they’re looking at a youth and looking at
youth offenders from juvenile detention,
the way their brain has developed,” said
run by the Oregon Health Authority, to
Kimberly McCullough, policy director at
adult prison, run by the Oregon
ACLU of Oregon and member of the
Department of Corrections. This happens
legislative workgroups. “A youth at 16 can
when they turn 25 and still have time left
be, really, a very different person than they
on their sentence. An inmate may only
are later down the road,” she said.
have a few months or a year or two
Oregon voters passed Measure 11 in
remaining to be served when this happens.
1994, dictating that juveniles age 15 and
It may be good policy to review their case
older be automatically tried in adult court
O