50^
George Benson Releases New CD
Mixes soul with contemporary urban edge
See Focus, page A 7
SS' Fortiani» ©
‘City
ity of Roses’
A4
... .
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIV • Number 26
T, Week in
TheReview
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • July 07, 2004
SENTENCED
Edwards Added to Ticket
HARD
TIME
Democratic presidential candi­
date John Kerry on Tuesday se­
lected fom ierrival John Edwards
to be his running mate, calling the
former trial lawyer and rookie
senator a man who showed "guts
and determination and political
skill” in his unsuccessful race
againstKerryforthe party ’ s nomi­
nation.
Ten years after
Measure 11
HIV Hits Record High in 2003
New HIV infections hit a record
high last year as the virus contin­
ues to outpace the global effort
to contain it, according to a U.N.
report published Tuesday.
Archdiocese Goes Bankrupt j
T h e P o rt­
land A rch ­
diocese will
file for bank­
ru p tc y b e ­
cause it can’t
afford to pay
the potential Archbishop
cost o f sex JohnV Iazny
abuse lawsuits, becoming the first
Roman Catholic diocese in the
nation to seek such court relief.
The action freezes the start o f a
priest abuse civil trial involving
the late Rev. MauriceGrammond,
who was accused o f molesting
more than 50 boys in the 1980s
“The pot of gold is pretty much
empty right now,” Archbishop |
John Vlazny said..
Blair Doubts WMD Exist
Prime M inister Tony Blair said
Tuesday that Saddam Hussein’s
illicit weapons o f mass destruc­
tion may never be found in Iraq,
but insisted the dictator had |
posed a threat to the world.
Stampede in Spain
by J aymee R. C uti
T he P ortland O bserver
Ten years after Measure 11 be­
came the law, experts and families
still dispute its ability to be applied
fairly.
According to critics, mandatory
sentencing takes decisions away
from judges. The result has been
devastating to an African-Ameri­
can community, which is over-rep-
resented in the justice system.
The measure passed overwhelm-
ilirlao
resenting 10.5 percent o f Measure
11 offenders.
Many authorities in the legal
profession say Measure 11 ’s m an­
datory sentencing im plications
have not been used for its intended
purpose, resulting in a loss of dis­
cretionary power to judges, those
who are most qual ified to make s«.
tencing decisions for minors and
first-time offenders.
Juvenile offenders are tried as
adults at the age o f 15 under
Measure 11. They’re assigned
probation officers for adults who
often have larger caseloads than
their youth counterparts.
ingly by voters in a statewide elec­
tion in 1994 to keep the most violent
offenders in prisons and off the
streets, but it has disproportion­
ately imprisoned African Ameri­
cans.
Making up approximately 3 per­
cent of O regon’s populations, Af­
rican Americans are locked up at
more than three times that rate, rep-
Instead, some say it empowers
prosecuting attorneys to convince
inmates to plead guilty to lesser
charges, with the threat o f a M ea­
sure 11 offense looming over their
heads.
“The measure passed because
these were considered the most
violent crimes but a couple years
continued
, «4 « .
.
photo by D avid P ie c h i TT hk P ortland O bserver
Ju d g e M ichael J. M cS h a n e p o n d ers th e e v id e n ce p r e se n te d by a p ro se cu to r in M ultnom ah C ounty Circuit Court.
yf
on page A2
Law is Tough on Teens
Two dozen offenses get you locked up
by J ohanna S. K ing
to an adult court, with the rights to a non-Measure 11 charge, how­
T he P ortland O bserver
bail and a trial by jury.
ever, mercy is rarely given.
Mandatory minimum sentenc­
According to the Multnomah
Amy Holmes Hehn, who is in
ing not only forces juvenile o f­ County juvenile corrections sys­ charge o f juvenile cases in the
fenders to serve hard time for tem, juveniles under 16 are held in M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty D istric t
committed crimes, but also makes county detention facilities. Indi­ Attorney’s Office, said there’s
them face the harsh reality of the viduals 16 and over can legally be careful attention given to ju v e­
consequences
n ile
ca se s
L'lat follow crimi­
through a pro­
nal behavior.
cess o f re view by
I f I ’m with someone and they commit a crime, Z won’t gel in
Oregon vot­
a committee of
trouble, right?
e rs a p p ro v e d
p ro sec u to rs to
Ballot Measure
Wrong I f you help that person in any way, such as telling them
decide on proper
11 in November
to commit the crime, helping them plan the crime or being a
d isp o s itio n o f
1994 to apply
lookout, you could get locked up, too.
youth offenders.
mandatory mini­
In2(X)2,anew
Instead: fry to talk them out o f it. I f that doesn 't work, leave right
mum prison sen­
measure to repeal
away and get some help to stop the crime.
tences to certain
the drastic pun­
crimes with no possibility for any placed in adult county jails, but are ishments set on young offenders
reduction in sentence, such as almost never housed with adults. was added to the ballot but was
good behavior or a first offense. No youth under the age of 18 is put widely defeated.
U nderthe law, juveniles 15 and into adult prisons.
The district attorney’s office
older are treated and sentenced
Young offenders who go to trial said the get-tough-on-crime m ea­
the same as adults for up to 24 and arefound guilty ofaM easure 11 sure sticks because people arc
felony crimes, from sexual abuse, crime will definitely go to prison and tired o f violent crime and want to
robbery and assault to murder. could stay there fora long time. Most put in prison anyone, including
Youths charged with these of­ juveniles can opt for a plea bargain, juveniles, who commit certain
fenses are referred automatically where they plead guilty to a lesser or crimes.
Is the Crime Worth Your Future?
A rocket fired from a balcony
burst into a mosaic o f glittering
aluminum dust over Pamplona,
Spain Tuesday, signaling the start [
o f the San Fermin festival known
for its running o f the bulls.
Pain Relief for Crafty
Dr. Colleen McDonough, a chi­
ropractor sees many patients with
sewing-related ailments which
prompted her to start ErgoSew, a
Salem-based business that sells |
ergonomic support products.
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Cosby Doesn’t Mince Words on Black
Says detractors
are trying to hide
'dirty laundry’
(A P)— Bill Cosby is not backing down on
his tirade against failures in the black com ­
munity, telling a room full of African-Ameri­
can activists that too many black children are
running around not knowing how to read or
write and “going nowhere.”
Cosby made headlines in May when he
upbraided some poor blacks for their gram­
mar and accused them o f squandering op­
portunities the civil rights movement gave
them. He shot back Thursday, saying his
detractors were trying in vain to hide the
black com m unity’s “dirty laundry.”
“Let me tell you something, your dirty
laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day.
it’s cursing and calling each other n----------
as they're walking up and down the street,”
Cosby said during an appearance at the
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Citizenship
Education F und's annual conference in
Chicago.
Bill Cosby, with
J e s s e J a c kso n
(right) h e a d o f th e
Rainbow P ush
Coalition, a d ­
d r e s s e s th e civil
rights
organization's
a nnual co n fere n ce
in Chicago (AP
photo)
Tils
"They think they’re hip," the entertainer
said. “They can ’t read; they can 't write.
T hey're laughing and giggling, and they're
going nowhere."
In his remarks in May at a commemoration
o f the anniversary o f the Brown v. Board of
Education desegregation decision, Cosby
denounced some blacks’ gramm ar and said
those who commit crimes and wind up be­
hind bars “are not political prisoners."
I can t even talk the way these people
talk, ’Why you a in 't,' ’Where you is’ ... and
I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk,"
Cosby said then. “And then I heard the
fathertalk... Everybody knows it’s important
to speak English except these knuckleheads.
You can 't be a doctor with that kind of crap
coming out of your mouth.”
Cosby elaborated Thursday on his previ­
ous comments in a talk interrupted several
times by applause. He castigated some blacks,
saying that they cannot simply blame whites
for problems such as teen pregnancy and
high school dropout rates.
“For me there is a tim e ... when we have to
turn the mirror around," he said. "Because
for me it is almost analgesic to talk about what
continued y f on page A2