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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1982)
F ra n c " « S e h o e n -’.'ew apaper Hooa Low-cost energy loans New District 1 candidates Page 7 Page 2 LU LU U n iv e r s ity o f O ra so n * > - H . - - t i -i ■/ J NFL strike analyzed Page 4 PORTLAND OBSERVER August 25, 1962 Volume XII, Number 46 25C Per Copy Two Sections USPS959 680 855 Governor Atiyeh proposes death penalty G o v ern o r V ic to r A tiye h a n nounced Tuesday that he w ill seek several avenues o f remedy to what he calls O re g o n ’ s p roblem w ith vio len t crim e. “ W ith in recent m onths, com m unities in O regon have been outraged bv the com m ission o f b ru ta l m urders, shocking rapes and a larm in g kidnappings,’ * he said. Atiyeh’s program consists of: 1) a constitutional amendment to reinstate the death penalty 2) repeal o f insanity as a defense for violent crimes 3) do u blin g o f fun d in g fo r the c rim in a l in vestigation unit o f the Oregon State police 4) additional anti-crime funding for the State Attorney General and local prosecutors 3) allocation o f money for more jail space 6) crime education in the State’ s public schools 7) creation o f a G o v e rn o r’ s Special C om m ission on V io len t Crime Death penalty The G overnor’s justification for reinstating the death penalty fo r aggravated murder is that the people o f Oregon adopted a constitutional amendment in 1978 which proved to be unconstitutional, but “ the clear expression o f the public will in this matter should not be frustrated by technicalities. C ap ita l punishment should not be em ployed indiscriminately, but the precedual defect must be corrected so the will o f the people can be carried o ut.” protect the p u b lic .” C u rren t law states that if a person lacks substantial capacity to appreciate the c rim in a lity o f his acts — to understand the difference between right and wrong - then he must be found innocent o f a criminal act and referred for treatment o f the mental illness or defect. That person can be held in the state m ental hospital until considered cured, many times that being longer than the prison sentance would have been. Since the recent successful insanity defense o f President Reagan’ s assailant, John H in kley , several states have changed their laws to preclude use of this defense. Insanity plea Police. DA budgets The governor explained that there i, a growing belief that the current law on insanity defense ” is scientif ically unsound, execessively expens ive to administer and inadequate to The governor proposes not only to increase the State Police budget by about $4 m illio n a year but proposes support to county district attorneys, including upgrading o f salaries and technical assistance. He also proposes changes in several laws that were adopted to protect the rights o f defendents. hensive effort to advise students not only of the perils o f drug abuse, but o f means o f recognizing and thwart ing potential sexual molesters. Prison facilities G o v ern o r A tiyeh proposes build in g new prison facilities or expanding current facilities w ith fin an cin g fro m the general fun d . “ Construction o f new cells simply must be a top priority to increase the certain ty o f punishm ent and confinement for criminals.” H e explained that “ W ith in the past tw o years, tw o bonding measures which w ould have financed new prison construction have been rejected by the voters. “ Still, I believe Oregonians accept and endorse the need to provide new jail and prison cells. Their concern tends to focus on how the construc tion is financed.” Crime education The program would be a compre Governor’s Commission The G o vern o r’s Commission on Violent C rim e is intended to bring together representatives o f agencies involved in the c rim in a l justice system to consider means o f more effectively suppressing violent crime - not only through apprehension o f wrongdoers, but by various prevent ative measures. Among the issues to be addressed are: 1) Probation and parole 2) Youthful criminals 3) Narcotics enforcement 4) Appeals and judicial review 5) Compensation for victims 6) Tax incentives fo r anti-crim e devices 7) Volunteer citizen activities GOVERNOR ATIYEH Nicaragua, El Salvador rebels, claim: Honduran aggression first stage of U.S. intervention in region The only way to prevent a region al w ar in C entrrfl A m erica is to achieve a negotiated settlement o f regional conflicts, said the Oeneral Command o f the Farabundo M a rti National Liberation Front (F M L N ) o f El Salvador. In a detailed review o f U .S . threats and increased viola tions o f the sovereignty o f the Salva doran people, the F M L N leaders re peated their willingness to negotiate and achieve peace. T h e statem ent, which calls on Central American peoples to defend independence and sovereignty in the face o f increasing danger o f U .S . military intervention, says the inter vention by Honduran armed forces in the department o f Morazam is the first stage of a much greater aggres sion. It indicates that it is now possible to predict “ the sending o f U .S . troops to Central America and the combination o f an attack on the Sal vadoran people with an invasion o f Nicaragua and the occupation and transformation o f Honduras into a U .S . m ilita ry base to ensure U .S . dom ination over all Central A m er ica and provide for the carrying out o f actions against Cuba and G ren ada.” The com m unique fu rth e r states that (he Honduran army will not be able to defeat the F M L N , making U .S. intervention more likely. sources. In addition to these indivi Nicaragua charged that ccutaci** dual act* o f aggression, there are a revolutionary activities aimed at de number o f destabilization actions stabilizing the country are part o f an outside the country. overall plan engineered by the • The statem ent continued that C .l.A . Honduran activity in El Salvador is In a July 13 decree extending the a threat to Nicaragua’s security. State o f Em ergency declared on In a letter to Secretary o f State M arc h 5 the G overnm ent o f N a George S chultz, N icaragua said tional Reconstruction o f Nicaragua these m ilitary actions are contrary declared that the C IA plan seeks to to the U .S .’ stated preference that prevent the peaceful consolidation the grave problems in Central A m o f the Nicaraguan nation. The doc erica be settled peacefully and, to ument adds that counterrevolution the c o n tra ry , are aggravating the ary activity persists throughout N i tensions in the area. caragua and has increased in some N icarag ua denounced the U .S . border regions. The result has been preparation for intervention in N i a loss o f human life and natural re caragua and sees this activity as co- inciding w ith the o rg an iza tio n o f bands o f ex-Som oza guardsm en, which are taking on the form o f a regular army supplied by the U.S. The recent attempt to bomb Nica rag ua’ s only oil re fin in g by a ir planes launched fro m H o n d u ra n bases is seen as "the most recent and clear intent to destabilize” the coun try. They charged that this is evi dence o f the use o f the $19 m illion provided to the C . l . A . for action against Nicaragua, and that a dan gerous and unnecessary war be tween Nicaragua and Honduras will only be caused by the United States. The National Coordination Com mittee o f Solidarity with the People o f El Salvador (Honduras) has de nounced the presence o f U .S . war ships at the military based o f Puerto Cortes on Honduras' Atlantic coast. The C om m ittee said the warships had arrived on July 11th from Guantanamo, and were given a cere monial welcome. According to the Commission the U.S. warships’ mis sion on the H onduran coastline is set for an indefinite period o f time and consists o f detecting alleged weapons tra ffic as well as m ilitary objectives in El Salvador and Nica ragua. The Committee emphasized that the a rriv a l o f the warships form s {Please turn to page 2, column 1) County commission stalls El Salvador initiative by John Blank Can 17,300 registered Multnomah County voters who want the issue o f U .S. involvement in El Salvador on the November ballot be all wet? According to John Leahy, M u lt nomah County Legal Counsel, the answer seems to be yes. Leahy told the Observer Monday that the initia tive petition, signed by 17,300 vot ers, to direct the County to tell the federal government to stop aiding El Salvador’s brutal regime, is “ clearly Analysis not legislation” and so by law may not be the subject o f a state or county in itia tiv e . “ L e g is la tio n ,” said Leahy, “ establishes a rule o f conduct f o r the citizens o f a dis trict” while this initiative would fal' under the technical heading o f a “ resolution" or “ memorial” which directs C o u n ty o ffic ia ls to take a specific action (in this case, to com m unicate to the federal govern ment). The County Commissioners have not challenged Leahy on this, nor made any move to try to place the in itia tiv e on the b allo t som ehow. The C om m ission has sat on its hands, preferring to let the courts de cide the question o f whether this proposed citizens advisory can be called “ leg islatio n ” — loo late, o f course, for the measure to appear on November's ballot. Yet, according to Leahy, there is an easy way for the Commissioners SHADBURNE: Inappropriate to act on El Salvador Initiative prior to Judicial review . to allow the El Salvador initiative on the ballot— they have but to pass an ordinance allowing “ resolutions,” in addition to “ leg islatio n ,” to be the subject o f initiative petitions. In fact, Leahy said M o n d a y, he had d rafted such an ordinance for the C o u n c il and had given it to them “ several weeks a g o .” He couldn’ t remember just whom he gave it to, " b u t ," he said, the Commissioners "a ll saw it." T h e C om m issioners, however, have not availed themselves o f this option. Only Commissioner Gladys M cC o y has said she’ s in fav o r o f such an ordinance; but she hasn't wanted to in tro d uce it unless she knew beforehand that at least one other commissioner would vote yes on it. And so far she’s found no tak ers. M r. Joe Delillo, an aide speaking fo r C om m issioner G o rd o n Shad- burne, said Monday that Shadburne "do esn ’ t think it would be appro p riate” to pass such an ordinance “ p rio r to ju d ic ia l a c tio n " on the question o f whether the El Salvador in itia tiv e is “ le g is la tio n ” or not. M r. Shadburne appears to think citizens oughtn’t to have the right to vote on the issue until legal experts decide what to call it. This sentiment was echoed by the lib e ra l com m issioners, C aro lin e M iller and Earl Blumenauer. These liberals went even further, however, and declared their opposition to al low ing the in itia tiv e on even as a “ resolution." According to Chuck Blanchard, a spokesman fo r Com m issioner Blumenauer, allowing advisory re solutions would be dangerous. The McCOY: Tha only Commissionar willing to hava tha votars apeak on El Salvador__ _ __________ MILLER: El Salvador advisory is “an abridgamant of damocracy.” Commissioner is worried, it seems, that right wingers would get their is sues on the ballot, and political en ergy would be wasted fighting their advisories. The Commissioner fa vors "a more narrowly defined” ini tiative process, one which the County “ is able to control." Commissioner M iller echoes these w orries, and adds, even more strongly, that citizen advisories such as the El Salvador initiative are "an abridgement o f dem ocracy.” Her reasoning is (hat money spent put ting an issue on the b allo t— for in clusion in the Voters Pamphlet, ad ditional lines o f typesetting, etc.— is ill-spent on what she calls " o p in ion p o lls .” This m oney, she says, should go in to needed social ser vices, rather than this excess o f de mocracy. Ms. M iller adds that she’s tired of "getting it in the neck” from people who are mad at the federal govern ment; she wants to be left alone to tend to local business. Yet she recognizes that the E R A and the proposed nuclear freeze (re cently placed on the Oregon ballot as Measure 5 for this November) are fit subjects for advisories since wom en’s rights and a nuclear holocaust directly affect Multnomah County’s citizens. She doesn’t feel this about El Salvador; however, she acknow ledges d ifficulty in knowing where to "draw the line.” Both Commissioners M ille r and Blumenauer indicated that they fa vored stopping aid to El Salvador (w hat they seem to oppose is the voters telling them to say so to the President and Congress). Commis sioner Blumenauer, according to his aide, is willing to introduce a resolu tion directing the C o un ty to com municate its opposition to El Salva dor a id , and to have public tes ti mony on the matter. Commissioner M ille r points out that she has a t tended rallies opposing U .S . inter vention and in other ways has gone on record on this and other progres sive issues. The fact is that an advisory vote on a matter like El Salvador or nu clear war is not just an “ o p in io n p o ll.” An advisory tells politicians that there is a constituency which, more than simply having a point o f view on an issue, is w illing to take political action, and put politicians in the hot seat. It tells politicians that there are progressive activists out there, involved w ith, inform ed about, and concerned enough with government to carry out a d ifficu lt and costly petition drive and elector al campaign. It lets them know, as the campaign succeeds, that these activists have a political base among the people. T h is is the kind o f thing that moves politicians, not passive opin ion polls. The proof is that all the Commis sioners are much more agitated by the El Salvador petition drive than they have ever been by a pub lic opinion poll! BLUMENAUER: Favors only an initiatlvs process the County can control.______________________ The fact is that these advisories are evidence o f p otential p o litic al pow er, exercised by the people themselves, outside the control o f their representatives-in-office. C o uld this be why our C o u n ty Commission is so nervous about this issue?
