Portland Observer, October 9, 1986, Page 9
Lawyer against racism. . .
Tri-Met imposes
additional gas tax
Zn Jerry Gamer
Iri Mel's Board ol Directors adopt
cd a revised version ot ordinance No
127, the petroleum importers business
license tax designed to provide an
estimated $10 million annually to sub
sidi/e regional transit services
I lie revenue measure, which is being
enacted through In Mel's authority lo
impose a business license tax, levies a I
percent lax on the gross receipts of
importers ot petroleum products.
Businesses importing petroleum into
the Iri Met district come under the
new lax.
Alter six months of review and two
public hearings, the In Mel's stall
recommended all grades ot petroleum
imported lor distribution within 111
Mel's boundaries be included in the
tax I he broad based tax directlv at
teds imjiorters ol oil, diesel, gasoline
and other grades ot petioleum
"Those distributors mav ot may not
Kathleen Herron is a member ol the
National 1 awyers Guild (Nl.G) and
has sersed as Portland Chapter Board
Member anil Regional Vice President
She is presently employed at the I ewis
and Clark 1 egal Clinic where she also
teaches law.
Herron was recently honored by the
Nl G for her work in fighting racism.
Ms Herron also co-foundcd the Com­
munity 1 aw Project, a feminist neigh­
borhood law clinic, where she repre­
sented battered women and juveniles
Herron also developed the Nl G anti­
racism workshop and helped direct the
Portland Blaik I inted I ron! I egal
l limes. Recently, she organized the
successful defense ol anti Apartheid
protesters in Portland
Kathleen Herron was interslewed bs
lerrs Garner for the Portland Ob
server
Garner Alter sou finished law
school, whs did you decide lo not
woik as a defense attorney'.’
Herron: During law school, I
worked in the public defender’s office.
I was shiK'ked at the things I witnessed
in the criminal justice system I he
system was racist and sexist It seemed
as though the only people who were
sentenced to prison were Blacks, na­
tives, the poor, young whites and wo­
men I said to myself, “ These aren't
the only ones who are committing
crimes in society " .Another reason
whs I chose not to work as a defense
attorney is I didn’t like to see anyone
go to jail.
Garner: Is the criminal justice sys­
tem racist?
Herron: The system discriminates
against certain groups of jseople. I here
is racism throughout the criminal jus­
tice system It starts in the legislature,
where lawmakers decide what should
be a crime and how will they enforce
the law. The justice system spends
millions of dollars prosecuting crimes
that are committed by the poor, while
little effort is made lo catch white-
collar criminals While white collar
criminals are sent to nice prisons in
California, poor criminals are sent to
places like Attica or Rocks Butte I
once visited rocky Butte where they
had solitary confinement cells. Inmates
were placed in those cells for petty in­
fractions such as complaining about
the food. Those cells reminded me ol
concentration camps.
Garner: Why do you think society
tolerates this bias in the criminal justice
system?
Herron: The answer is complex.
Racism and economics play a major
role. Racism is taught in society and is
something that is put into our heads
from the beginning Many whites
are taught to be suspicious of Blacks
I was even taught to be suspicious of
Blacks While growing up in Mon
tana, I never saw any successlul
Blacks. I didn’t know about Martin
I ulher King because Blacks weren’t
coveted by the media back then Peo­
ple in Montana were not concerned
about Black civil rights.
Economics plays a big part. I he
justice system is based on economics,
lawyers know that money can bus the
decide to |\is s on the cost ol the tax to
then customers depending upon mai
ket conditions,''says In Met General
Manager la m e s I < owen. “ We are
aware, howevei, that the trend is lor
the price ol these fuels to go down be
cause ot a petroleum surplus in the
marketplace."
I he proposed ordinance was revised
lo restrict the tax on petroleum sales
within the In Met district It doesn't
altect sales outside ot the Portland
area. t owen said
"W e've carefully listened to public
testimony on this issue W e'vecralted
a broad based measure which we think
will raise the required revenue while
having a minimal impact on those
businesses falling under the new tax.”
< owen said
I he new tax goes into effect on
lanuarv I. I9H6
R E C IP E S
o American Heart Association
C ra n b e rrie s have ,1 b itte rsw e e t taste tti.it is We. suited (nr tin day
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dinner tu b e . ■ with e ft iver turkey and lixins
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cooking spray B ake at ISO d e g re e s f tor SO 60 m in utes Hem ove
tire .id from p a n and pl.u e on w ire rat k to cooi Bread sin es b e lli" the
second day
It seemed as tho ugh the only jieople w h o were sentenced
to prison were Blacks, natives, the poor, young w hiles and
defendant a better trial Monev can
buy an attorney and investigators
Garner What do sou mean bv a
better trial'.’
Herron Bv this, I mean one can
have better access to investigation.
W uh money, sou have access to pro­
fessional help to explain to the judge
and jury what is going on If vou do
not have the wealth, you have limited
time and resources. You are on your
own
Garner W hat was the purpose ot
the Community I aw Project you
started 111 15/76?
Herron Myself and thiee other
women attorneys formed the C om ­
munity I aw Project Out goal was to
Left to right Carol Page, student and local activist. Daman
Wakhungu. a Kenyan who teaches Black Studies at PSU.
and Donnda Welle, a Lewis and Clark philosophy graduate
w ho w orked and studied in Kenya at ’ ’The V iew from
N airobi,'' an international w om en's conference held last
Yield 16 Slices
Ajiprox Cat Serv
wom en
These aren t the only ones w ho are com m ittin g
crimes in society
(P h o to R ich a rd J B ro w n )
light against poverty, racism and sex
isin However, we learned vou can
not make monev working tor poor
people Still we worked hard, we rep
resented protesters at the I roian plant,
Arab students who were arrested at
PSI and tenant gtoups W calsodid
work lor various women’s gioups and
individual women We charged he
tween $J0 and $,5 an hour to our
clients At the same nine, attorneys
downtown were charging $75 an hour
I odav the rate is $ 11 < I an hour lor an
attorney to work a felony case in
court
Garner What was the goal ol your
anti racism wotkshop vou started 111
Portland ’
Friday at the Friend's Meetinghouse Sponsored by the Red
Rose S chool Forum , the program provided an inside
glimpse of the "Decade of Women' and Forum 85'' held
m Nairobi this summer.
(P hoto Richard J B row n)
Heron I lie National I awyers Guild
lorn,cd the first workshop in Seattle
\t dial time, I organized the Portland
( liaplet I lie purpose ot die workshop
is lo leach whites about their racist
attitude and to help unlearn these
attitudes I also teach the same class at
PSI in the women studies program.
Garnet > ou provided legal advice
lor the Black I ’nited I lonl legal
Clinics. How diil you become involved
in this?
Herron I aw vers Irom the Portland
I aw vers Guild wanted lo target racism
suin' we thought it was evil. I)uimg
this petiod, the police dumped dead
opossums in trout ol the Burget IJatn
Restaurant and the Black community
was having acts ol racism occurring in
their neighborhoods So we met with
Ron Herndon and lean Vexsup Irom
the Black United front During the
meeting, we said we would like lo
help and asked them what they need
ixl We were told by Herndon that the
community needed legal services. I his
surprised us because we were ready to
take on some big cases Herndon said
that if the Black I lilted I tout could
provide legal service to the commun­
ity, it would help We agreed and start­
ed the legal clinics in St. Andrews
Church on Saturdays Myself and Jean
Vessup were the directors We had ¡1
committee to run the clinics.
We could not figure whs the alien
dance was so low at the clinics So
now we are trying to get the commun­
ity to take advantage of this legal serv­
ice by working with Black lawyers
Garner W hat was the nature of the
majority of cases the Nl (1 handled tor
people who were referred 10 the o r­
ganization by the I tout?
Herron: Many cases involved wel­
fare questions Such as not receiving
benefits or being cut-off from welfare.
Other cases involved family law and
lots of tenant problems I call this the
bread and butter stuff.
Garner: Do you think the number
of Black lawyers will increase ill the
future?
Herron: No, I don’t see an increase.
Hie reason I say this is because Reagan
is attacking affirmative action like
crazy. The gains made during the six­
ties and seventies are now being
stopped Reagan has told 50 cities to
stop their affirmative action pro
grams or his Justice Department will
take them to court.
Its
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