6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017
WORLD IN BRIEF
ate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Sen-
ate fl oor ahead of the vote. “It will make the cooling saucer of
the Senate considerably hotter, and I believe it will make the
Supreme Court a more partisan place.”
Associated Press
US strike on Syria is widely
praised, but angers Russia
BEIRUT — World leaders rallied around the United States
after it launched a missile strike early today on a Syrian air base
in response to this week’s chemical attack, while Russia con-
demned the move as “aggression” and suspended crucial coor-
dination with Washington in Syria’s congested skies.
The overnight missile attack, which marked the fi rst time
the U.S. has directly targeted Syrian President Bashar Assad’s
forces, was condemned by his allies in Russia and Iran but
welcomed by the Syrian opposition and its supporters, who
expressed hope it signaled a turning point in the devastating
six-year-old civil war.
The bombing represents Trump’s most dramatic military
order since taking offi ce and thrusts the U.S. administration
deeper into the complex Syrian confl ict. The Obama adminis-
tration threatened to attack Assad’s forces after previous chem-
ical attacks, but never followed through.
About 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat air base,
a small installation with two runways, where aircraft often take
off to bomb targets in northern and central Syria. The U.S. mis-
siles hit at 3:45 a.m. today and targeted the base’s airstrips, han-
gars, control tower and ammunition areas, U.S. offi cials said.
They were fi red from two warships in the Mediterranean
Sea, in retaliation for Tuesday’s deadly chemical attack, which
offi cials said used chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly
sarin.
Assad’s offi ce called the U.S. missile strike “reckless” and
“irresponsible.” The Syrian military said at least seven people
were killed and nine wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Obser-
vatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitor said the seven
included a general and three soldiers.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin believes the U.S.
strike is an “aggression against a sovereign state in violation of
international law.”
Senate confi rms
Trump pick Gorsuch
to Supreme Court
Judge
Neil Gorsuch
WASHINGTON — The Senate con-
fi rmed Neil Gorsuch to become the new-
est associate justice on the Supreme Court
today, elevating Donald Trump’s nominee
following a corrosive partisan confronta-
tion that could have lasting impacts for the
Pace of US hiring tumbles, yet
jobless rate hits 10-year low
Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Robert S. Price/U.S. Navy
The USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack mis-
sile today from the Mediterranean Sea. The United States
blasted a Syrian air base with a barrage of cruise mis-
siles in fiery retaliation for this week’s gruesome chemical
weapons attack against civilians.
Senate and the court.
Vice President Mike Pence was presiding as the Senate voted
54-45 in favor of Gorsuch, a 49-year-old veteran of the 10th U.S.
Circuit of Appeals in Denver whose rulings make him an intellec-
tual heir to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whose seat he will fi ll.
Gorsuch won support from 51 of the chambers’ Republicans
as well as three moderate Democrats up for re-election in states
Trump won last fall: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heit-
kamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. GOP Sen.
Johnny Isakson of Georgia did not vote.
Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats,
voted no.
The outcome was a major win for Trump, his biggest con-
gressional victory to date, as well as for Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who kept Scalia’s seat open after the
justice’s death in February 2016. McConnell refused to hold
hearings for President Barack Obama’s nominee.
After he is sworn in, Gorsuch will restore the court’s conser-
vative voting majority that existed before Scalia’s death.
Republicans exulted in the victory.
“He’s an exceptional choice,” McConnell said.
Democrats denounced the GOP’s use of what both sides
dubbed the “nuclear option” to put Gorsuch on the court, call-
ing it an epic power grab that would further corrode politics in
Congress, the courts and the United States. Many Republicans
bemoaned reaching that point, too, but they blamed Democrats
for pushing them to it.
“I believe it will make this body a more partisan place,” Sen-
WASHINGTON — The U.S. jobs report for March report
delivered a mixed message today as hiring fell to its slowest pace
in nearly a year. Yet at the same time, the unemployment rate fell to
its lowest level in nearly a decade.
Employers added just 98,000 jobs last month, the Labor
Department said. It was barely half the previous month’s gain and
a potential sign of weakening growth. Yet most economists down-
played the drop, attributing much of it to a snowstorm that hit the
Midwest and Northeast just as the government was compiling its
hiring data.
The unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent, the lowest
since May 2007, from 4.7 percent in February. The unusually low
jobless rate suggested a much healthier picture.
Most economists had expected a drop-off in hiring in March
after robust gains in both January and February, but the drop was
worse than projected. Yet many analysts said the tepid fi gure was
likely just a blip.
“It’s very premature to conclude that there’s been an interrup-
tion of what has been fantastic momentum in the labor market,”
said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust.
Demand booming on college
campuses for creative writing
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Some credit the rise of social media.
Others attribute it to a fl ourishing culture of self-expression. What-
ever the reason, colleges across the United States are seeing a
boom in demand for courses on creative writing.
Colleges are adding writing programs to accommodate inter-
est in what has become the rarest of fi elds in the humanities — a
sector that is growing, rather than losing students to science and
technology.
The number of schools offering bachelor’s degrees in creative
writing has risen from three in 1975 to 733 today, according to
the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, an industry group
based at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
So what will these students do after graduating?
“Most of them are aware that this probably is not going to be
their career. At least, I hope they’re aware,” said David Galef,
director of the creative writing program at Montclair State Uni-
versity in New Jersey. “They’re interested in doing something they
feel is creative.”
Justice: It costs $94.55 a day to keep an inmate in state prison
Continued from Page 1A
— so any probation violation
comes back before the judge,
increasing the chances proba-
tion could be revoked.
“So the stakes are going
to be quite high for you, do
you understand that?” Judge
Matyas asked.
Ehrlund, a father who was
in a long-term relationship,
said he had tried treatment for
drinking before but would now
take it more seriously.
“I learned my lesson,” he
told the court. “I decided to
drink to take care of a prob-
lem. I realized that, obviously,
that’s not the way to do it.”
Justice reinvestment
Oregon, alarmed by the
high cost of prison, has
embraced justice reinvest-
ment, a national drive to con-
tain prison spending and
reduce recidivism.
The state has relaxed sen-
tences for drug and property
crimes and provided grants
to counties to supervise more
felons locally. The hope is to
slow the growth of the prison
population and interrupt the
behavioral patterns that trigger
new crimes.
Clatsop County is among
the top fi ve in prison use for
drug and property crimes since
the justice reinvestment initia-
tive began in 2013, and judges,
prosecutors and probation
offi cers are examining what
changes — if any — should be
made to improve sentencing
orders and probation.
Ehrlund is the kind of felon
justice reinvestment has the
potential to intercept. But a
close look at his case, based
on court records and police
reports, shows the discord
between theory and real life.
Bad choices felons make on
probation often give police,
prosecutors and judges few
alternatives, frustrating the
larger policy goals of criminal
justice reform.
Downward departure
Clatsop County’s relatively
high prison use for drug and
property crimes is tied to the
signifi cant number of down-
ward departure sentences like
the one Ehrlund accepted.
The prosecutor’s offer let-
ter to Ehrlund’s attorney
explained the trade-offs. Ehr-
lund was facing more than
nine years in prison for theft if
he went to trial and was con-
victed. If he pleaded guilty,
prosecutors would agree to
fi ve years because he had no
prior convictions for theft and
the state wanted restitution for
the $20,500 in unemployment
benefi ts.
The fi ve-year sentence
would not be imposed if Ehr-
lund paid back the money,
refrained from drinking and
obeyed the law while on
probation.
While Ehrlund had to serve
time in the county jail for the
DUII, he avoided going to
prison for theft, a deal that, on
paper, looks like a bargain.
But some defense attorneys
and probation offi cers are con-
cerned that downward depar-
ture sentences can set fel-
ons up for failure, especially
if they have drug or alcohol
problems. Since the District
Attorney’s Offi ce has a pol-
icy of no structured sanctions
in downward departure agree-
ments, probation offi cers are
unable to manage felons who
screw up by sending them to
county jail or rehab, possibly
staving off something worse.
Probation violations come
back before the court, where
long prison sentences are a
judge’s order away.
Catch a ride
The Warrenton Police
Department knew Ehrlund had
his driver’s license revoked.
They also knew he would
drive his burgundy Hummer in
the early mornings to the Fred
Meyer parking lot in Warren-
ton, where he would catch a
ride to work.
On a morning last July, a
Warrenton Police offi cer was
waiting when Ehrlund pulled
into the parking lot. He was
arrested for felony driving
with a revoked license, but
since the county jail was full,
he was cited and released.
Ehrlund, according to the
police report, told the offi cer
his partner would pick him up
after work.
Prosecutors moved to
revoke Ehrlund’s probation,
but before the court could
weigh the new felony, he made
‘Those prison beds are
pretty valuable. We need
them. And there are people
that deserve to be there. I
don’t think he’s (Ehrlund)
one of them.’
Lt. Kristen Hanthorn
leader of the Sheriff’s Office Parole and Probation Division
another, more serious, mistake.
Iredale Inn
On an afternoon in Decem-
ber, a Warrenton Police offi cer
and a Clatsop County Sheriff’s
Offi ce deputy found Ehrlund
in the parking lot behind the
Iredale Inn in Warrenton. He
was on his cellphone, leaning
over the tailgate of his silver
Dodge pickup, and he smelled
of alcohol.
Ehrlund had been refused
service at Rod’s Bar and Grill
because he was drunk, accord-
ing to the deputy’s report, and
a witness had followed him on
foot and watched him drive
over to the Iredale Inn, where
he was also refused service.
The Warrenton Police offi -
cer was only going to arrest
Ehrlund for felony driving
with a revoked license, since
the offi cer had not seen Ehr-
lund drive. But the sheriff’s
deputy insisted on pursuing a
felony drunken driving charge,
aware that it might send Ehr-
lund to prison.
Ehrlund was given a breath
test for alcohol when he was
taken to the county jail by the
Warrenton offi cer. On advice
from a prosecutor, the sheriff’s
deputy told jail staff he did not
want to know the result. The
sheriff’s deputy spoke with
witnesses from the bars and
had Ehrlund perform sobriety
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70 months
When Ehrlund came back
before Judge Matyas for a fi nal
time in February — a year
after accepting the downward
departure agreement on his
theft convictions — his fate
was already decided.
The 39-year-old admit-
ted he violated probation and
pleaded guilty to felony driv-
ing with a revoked license
and felony drunken driv-
ing. He received 60 months
— fi ve years — in prison on
the downward departure for
theft and another 10 months in
prison for the new convictions.
Matyas said Ehrlund would
be eligible for an alternative
incarceration program, which
provides intense treatment in
prison in exchange for early
release. The judge also recom-
mended that Ehrlund be eval-
uated for drug and alcohol
treatment when he gets out on
parole.
“Sounds like you’ll be there
long enough that you actually
may be able to get into some
programs that should help you
when you get out,” Matyas
said.
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tests at the jail, which he failed.
The deputy then had Ehrlund
take another breath test.
He blew a 0.18, more
than twice the legal limit for
driving.
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Lt. Kristen Hanthorn, who
leads the Sheriff’s Offi ce
Parole and Probation Division,
said that had probation offi cers
been able to use structured
sanctions with Ehrlund, they
might have been able to step
in after he was caught driving
with a revoked license in July
and change his path.
The new felony could have
been enough for Ehrlund to get
his probation revoked by the
court, but it was also possible
that a judge would recognize
he was driving to get to work
and give him another chance.
According to a probation
report, Ehrlund had enrolled in
outpatient treatment last May
for his drinking and attended
a court-ordered victim impact
panel over the summer meant
to show the risks of drunken
driving. He had also com-
pleted the 100 hours of com-
munity service that had been
ordered.
Ehrlund quit his job as an
operator at J.M. Browning,
where he had worked for sev-
eral years, for work closer to
home to lessen the pressure
to drive, his probation offi cer
said.
Even with the new drunken
driving charge in December,
the probation offi ce had rec-
ommended county jail, not
prison. They also wanted to get
Ehrlund into inpatient treat-
ment for alcohol abuse.
The state Department
of Corrections says it costs
$94.55 a day to keep an inmate
in prison, or nearly $35,000 a
year. Ehrlund, who is appeal-
ing his sentence, is at San-
tiam Correctional Institution in
Salem. As of now, his earliest
release date is in March 2021.
“Those prison beds are
pretty valuable,” Hanthorn
said. “We need them. And
there are people that deserve to
be there.
“I don’t think he’s one of
them.”
‘Defendant-by-
defendant’
District Attorney Josh
Marquis is critical of justice
reinvestment’s
data-driven
approach to reform, which
he sees as another Salem fad
that will fade away in a few
years. He has dismissed the
state’s incentives to counties to
reduce prison use for drug and
property crimes as a “negative
bounty system.”
Over the past few weeks,
Marquis and his staff have
reviewed more than a dozen
downward departure cases
identifi ed by the probation
offi ce — including Ehrlund’s
— and the district attorney said
his prosecutors would not have
done anything differently.
Ehrlund stole unem-
ployment insurance bene-
fi ts from the state and racked
up multiple DUIIs in Clatsop
County and Pacifi c County,
Washington.
“It’s defendant-by-defen-
dant, crime-by-crime, vic-
tim-by-victim,” Marquis said.
“You could have a theft of
unemployment of the same
magnitude, but take away
all those DUIIs, and maybe
have a completely different
attitude.
“Maybe say, give that per-
son a couple more shots before
we revoke them.”
The
district
attorney
believes Ehrlund belongs in
prison. “I think he belongs in
prison for the DUIIs alone.”
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