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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?