50jé
Former Blazer Frames
College Hall
Moose Sues
over Book
Kenny Carr gets a piece o f PCC expansion
See story, Metro section inside
Former Portland chief says he
has right to tell his story
O o rth m it © l^m u-r
Established In 1970
Volume XXXIII • Number 21
www,pQrtlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • Ma> 21. 2003
T, Weekin
TheReview
System
Clears
Officer
Supreme Court
to hear voucher case
The Supreme Court agreed Mon­
day to decide whether states
that offer scholarships or other
aid to needy students may refuse
to provide money for instruc­
tion at religious schools. Last
year the court voted 5-4 that
states could provide public
funds for parents to use at reli­
gious schools, without violat­
ing the requisite separation o f
church and state. The new case
tests whether states must also
fund religious instruction once
they provide scholarships for
secular programs.
Pattern of injustice
is ‘same old song’
Bv W vnde D ver
T he P ortland O bserver
Ashland students
object to blood drive
Students at Southern Oregon
Univ ersity will cancel their blood
drive this term because they say
that eligibility to donate discrimi­
nates against gay men and vio­
lates the university’s anti-dis­
crim ination policy. The Red
Cross said the FD A sets the
guidelines and that all blood
Collection agencies must abide
by them.
Disease, head injury link
Researchers studying the effects
ofboxingon the later-life devel­
opment o f neurological disor­
ders found that head injury may
increase the risk o f developing
Parkinson’s disease decades
later. The findings, published in
the journal “ Neurology," sug­
gest that head injury may be one
o f the factors that can lead to
Parkinson's, a progressive dis­
ease that afflicts up to 1.5 million
people in the USA.
U. S. terroralert goes orange
The Bush administration raised
the national terror alert level to
orange on Tuesday amid fears
that a wave o f attacks overseas
would spread to the United
States. Officials with the Departf
ment o f Homeland Security said-l
the threats were not specificto
location, time or method o f at­
tack. The warning sets in motion
new security measures for the
federal government and advises
cities, states and businesses to
take extra steps as well
photo bv
N ick J aram ili . o /T he P ortland O bserver
Oregon Symphony Conductor James DePreist and the bronze bust that was cast in his likeness. The sculpture
was placed in the lobby of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall last week as public commemoration for DePreist ’s
influence on the Portland arts community.
Bust Cast of James DePreist
Symphony director
honored for achievements
James DePreist, Oregon Symphony music director and
conductor for the last 23 years, was honored last week with
the unveiling and installation o f a new bronze sculpture cast
in his likeness.
The privately com m issioned DePreist bust, which was
created by internationally known local bronze sculptor
R ip C asw ell, was donated to the Portland Center for the
Performing Arts to serve as a public commemoration for
D e P re ist’ s m onum ental in flu en ce on the Portland
community.
“ DePreist has made an enormous impact on the artistic
community and has developed the symphony into one o f
Portland’s premier performing arts organizations," said Robyn
W illiam s, executive director o f the Portland Center for the
Performing Arts.
Local arts benefactor Gretchen Brooks said she set about
the task o f fundraising to commission the bronze sculpture o f
her friend DePreist because his work w ill have longstanding
affects on Oregon and the arts.
“ We appreciate the artistic achievements, grace, wit and
spirit he bestowed upon us," Brooks said. “ We want the
citizens and visitors o f Portland to have a reminder for years
to come o f the tremendous contributions Jimmy DePreist has
made.”
The bust was installed in the lobby o f the Arlene Schnitzer
Concert Hall on Friday, May 16.
Community and religious leaders in north and north­
east Portland are outraged that a seven-person grand
ju ry cleared officer Scott M cC o llisterof any criminal
actions in the May 5 shooting death o f Kendra James
when she tried to drive away from a routine traffic stop.
Membersofthe Albina Ministerial Alliance and the
Portland branch o f the N A A C P said the ju ry ’s failure
to indict M cCollister sends a clear message that the
criminaljustice system is unwilling to hold white police
officers accountable for the death o f black citizens.
“This is nothing new to the community,” said Pastor
Robin Wisner, who
is organ izing a march
and rally for justice
this S aturday in
James’ name. “ It's an
old song - a song
that has been played
over and over again.”
Pastor L e R o y
Haynes o f the Allen
Temple C M E Church
- Pastor LeRoy Haynes
in northeast Portland,
echoed W is n e r’ s
concerns about the fairness o f the grand jury process.
He said there is a sense o f rage in the African
American community when it comes to the police
shooting people o f color, grand juries historically will
not indict and rule the officers’ actions a justifiable
homicide.
Haynes said not only did the district attorney’s
office try to paint a negative image o f witness Darnell
White, who was James’ boyfriend and in the car at the
time of the shooting, but the discrepancies between
officers statements and those o f the witnesses should
have been enough to send M cCollister to trial.
“One minute he says he was falling and then he's not
falling, the car ran over his foot and then it didn’t,”
Haynes said. “Come on - everybody knows if a car
runs over their foot. It's a clear discrepancy.”
Rather than dwell on the tragedy, Haynes said he
hopes the community w ill come together and work to
prevent and incident like this from happening again. He
< We want to
make sure
Kendra James
did not have to
die in vain.
continued
on page A3
Justice Thomas views
The Supreme Court’s only black
justice said Tuesday that he has
been wrongly maligned for not
embracing the views o f black
c iv il rights leaders. Justice
Clarence Thomas, one o f the
court’s most conservative mem­
bers, told a group o f mostly-
black students from Benjamin
Banneker High School in Wash­
ington, that he believes the death
penalty is constitutional and that
there’s more to diversity than
skin color.
Gains Made in Color Blind Justice for Kids
; n visiting HOURS
f V
) 4
I
-A*
dJ
Reform targets
racial bias in
juvenile detention
partment o f Community Justice. “ But the
world isn’t perfect.”
F uller said the county is succeeding at
making sure that the local ju ven ile justice
system is blind tocthnicity and skin color.
A m ajor step in the drive to reduce the
Less than 10 years ago, local youth o f disproportionately high rate o f detain­
color were 10 percent more likely to be ment for non-white youth began a decade
held in a ju v e n ile detention center than ago when the county applied to be one o f
white offenders for the « --------------------------
—
20 cities nationwide en­
same crimes. But today, A
rolled in a ju ven ile re­
form experiment by the
make the county juve-
A n n ie
E.
C asey
n ile ju s t ic e system s u r e t h ( j t ¡ f a
Foundation’ s Juvenile
color-blind, the minor-
Detention A lternative
ity incarceration rate
Initiative program.
m irrors that o f white
Some authorities now
youth.
c o n s id e r M ultnom ah
A c co rd in g to new
County a model for j u ­
figures released by the
ven ile ju s tic e reform
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty
across the country.
Department o f Commu­
"W hat w e ’ve done is
nity Justice, the m inor­
just incredible," said Jim
ity youth detention rate -Jo a n n e Fuller,the Dlrectorofthe
Stegmi Iler. who worked
was 3 7 .6 percent in Department of Community Justice
as a probation officer for
2 0 0 2 , o n ly s lig h t ly
Multnomah County be­
higher than the 36.1 percent detention
fore becoming a consultant for the Casey
rate for whites. This is the fourth straight program.
year that the rates were identical or nearly
Stegmiller said in 1993, out o f 96 youth
identical.
held in detention. 70 were youth o f color.
“ Inaperfect world, this wouldn't be news,"
continued
on page A3
said Joanne Fuller, the director o f the De-
ve made it a
priority tO lllilKc
Ê3
juvenile justice
system in our
county is blind to
ethnicity and skin
color.
photo bv
M ark W ashinc . ton /T he P ortland O bserver
Joanne Fuller oversees the Donald E. Long juvenile detention facility as head of the
Multnomah County Department o f Community Justice. The administrator has found
some success in lowering the county's detention rate for minority offenders.
!