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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2017)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2017 Ballot measure Police, civil rights leaders voice support for data collection on race would restrict abortion rights Information would be taken at traffic stops By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — After years of disagreement, Oregon law enforcement and civil rights leaders voiced support Mon- day for a bill that would require police to record data on race during traffic stops. The legislation, pro- posed by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, is aimed at addressing racial profiling by law enforcement. “The legitimacy of our law enforcement depends on pub- lic perception, and there is no accountability mechanism bet- ter than sunshine,” Rosenblum testified during a hearing in the state House Judiciary Com- mittee. “The experience of other states suggests that law enforcement is often quick to change their policies when confronted with data suggest- ing disparate impact on diverse communities.” Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, shown here speaking at the Columbia Forum, is behind a bill to address racial profiling. The legislation also expands mandatory bias training for police officers and downgrades certain drug possession crimes from felonies to misdemean- ors — crimes for which people of color are disproportionately prosecuted. Record race Law enforcement officers would be required to record the race of the person stopped and when a citation or warn- ing is issued, a search is con- ducted or a person is arrested. The Oregon Criminal Jus- tice Commission would ana- lyze the data for any enforce- ment disparities and publish any trends in an annual report. Finally, the information would be distributed at a public forum in the law enforcement agen- cy’s county of jurisdiction. Several law enforcement agencies already collect such data voluntarily. Since 2000, Oregon State Police has been recording data on race, gender, age, reason for contact, cita- tion, warning or search type. “OSP does believe data col- lection has value in terms of guiding good policing policy and a critical foundation for discussions relating to policing concerns,” said Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton. “Before we have the conversation, I think we do need the data.” Oregon State Police data shows that 2.1 percent of trooper contacts were with people identified as black, which is proportionate with the population. But in Mult- nomah County, court records show that blacks are 10 times more likely to be charged with a drug-related crime, according to a Portland Tribune report. Racial profiling “Though today we don’t say that black people have to sit in the back of the bus, we don’t say that they don’t have access to public education or housing or health care, what we do say is that black people are crimi- nal, and we will criminalize them at every step in the pro- cess,” said Jo Ann Hardesty, president of NAACP Portland. Hardesty said the bill would be a good step toward address- ing racial profiling. “Oregon is not the only state that has disparate out- comes for people of color every step of the way, … but it is the only state that pretends it’s progressive,” Hardesty said at Monday’s hearing. “I am here today to encourage you to live up to what you think you are and actually do something that is going to have a signifi- cant impact on people’s lives.” The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. State lawmakers push to protect pot users’ info By KRISTENA HANSEN Associated Press SALEM — State lawmak- ers worried about a nation- wide crackdown on legal mar- ijuana under President Donald Trump’s administration are rushing to protect the personal information of pot customers in case federal agents try to seize it. A bipartisan group of law- makers is taking one of the first direct state actions in response to White House spokesman Sean Spicer suggesting a boost in enforcement of federal anti-marijuana laws. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said the Jus- tice Department is review- ing an Obama-era memo giv- ing states flexibility in passing marijuana laws. The committee that crafts Oregon’s pot policies has pro- posed legislation that requires marijuana businesses to destroy customers’ personal information, such as names, addresses and birth dates, gathered for marketing pur- poses, within 48 hours. “I could see where the fed- eral government would come in and try to gather this infor- mation from businesses that have stockpiled it and retained it in their records,” said state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eu- gene, a bill sponsor who is also a prosecutor. “I think we as legislators have a duty to pro- tect our citizens.” Eight states and the Dis- trict of Columbia have legal- ized marijuana for recreational use. Shops that sell the drug are open in four states and are required to check IDs to verify that customers are at least 21. But many in Oregon go fur- ther, keeping an internal log of customers’ personal details to promote their product, includ- ing special deals and discounts on birthdays. Some dealers even log driver’s license num- bers to track each marijuana product a person buys and on which dates, which helps cus- tomers buy an item again even if they forget its name. Colorado and Alaska pro- hibit retaining that private information. It’s also frowned upon, although not illegal, in Washington state. “The reason we keep that information is to reach out to them — it’s marketing, just like any retailer,” said Donald Morse, executive director of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council. New initiative would block state funding By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — Petitioners were granted permission last month to gather signatures to put a measure restricting state funding for abortions on the ballot in November 2018. The effort, Initiative Pe- tition 1, would amend the state’s constitution to pro- hibit spending public funds for abortions, with certain exceptions, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. The petition would allow public funds to be spent in circumstances where federal law requires states to provide funding for the procedure or when the procedure is “med- ically necessary.” Abortions and vasecto- mies are excluded from cov- erage required under the Af- fordable Care Act, the federal health care law that is under threat of repeal in Congress. A group of Democratic lawmakers in the state House of Representatives this ses- sion is sponsoring legislation — called the Reproductive Health Equity Act — that would require health plans, except for those that are of- fered by religious employers, to cover abortions and vasec- tomies. It would also main- tain no-cost birth control in the state. The petition was ap- proved for circulation in February. The petition needs 117,578 signatures to get on the ballot next year. Similar petitions were filed in 2012, 2014 and 2016, but failed each time to qual- ify for the ballot. Supporters of the initia- tive petition, in comments submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office, argue that Oregonians who oppose abortion should not be obli- gated to fund the procedure through taxes. Mary Nolan, executive director of Planned Parent- hood Advocates of Oregon, said in a statement that lim- itations on abortion would negatively affect low-income women, immigrants, young women and women of color in the state. “When a woman is living paycheck to paycheck, de- nying coverage can push her deeper into poverty,” Nolan said. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. www.eomediagroup.com W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 HEALTH NOTIFICATION Are You Hard of Hearing? 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