Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2014)
sportiani» (Dbserüer Page 4 Fightingfor the Innocent c o n t i n u e d f r o m front deem ed state property. A s for O regon, the overall prison population stands at 13,438 strong. W ith $ 135,000 earm arked for the O regon Innocence Project’s initial annual budget, about h a lf those m onies are designated to the full time legal director position. The rest o f that m oney goes tow ards investiga tions, administration, testing, experts, and w hatever is necessary to litigate and review the cases. R esearch show s that num ber one reason people continue to end up in j a il u n ju s tly is e y e w itn e s s misidentification. K aplan explains how incorrect identifications can stem from a num ber o f reasons; ev ery th in g from w hat’s show n to the eyew itness; the m ethod o f which evidence and sus pects are displayed to a w itness; and other factors which can corrupt the ability to properly I.D. som eone. Puracal, also an appellate attor ney, says 30 years o f science proves how m alleable hum an m em ories re ally are, something she’s experienced firsthand. In 2012 she successfully re p re s e n te d h e r b r o th e r J a s o n Puracal, an A m erican, attaining his freedom after he had spent nearly two years in a N icaraguan jail on false drug charges. Puracal calls cases like her broth ers and others, “opportunities” to examine what went wrong in the crimi nal justice system. O ne o f the key com ponents o f the work by the Oregon Innocence Project is keeping it absolutely pro bono for any clients they take on. Operating in conjunction with the Oregon Justice R esource C enter and M etropolitan Public D efender Ser vices, Inc., the O regon Innocence 46 Million Rides c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3 W hen the Y ellow L ine o p en ed in 2004, there w as a 50 percent in crease in the num ber o f new b u si nesses along the avenue, and that num ber continues to grow . A bout h a lf a dozen housing developm ents have o pened o r are under co n stru c tion w ithin w alking distance to the M A X stations. T h ere are m ore than 360 new Project is currently supported m ostly by private donations. M oving for w ard, K aplan says their services should ultim ately be supported by the com m unity. “So that m eans that w hether it’s governm ent funding o r it’s private funding, w e as a com m unity have to look at it, and say, w e ’ve created this system. This system has flaws in it, we can see the flaw s, we know what they are so we have to take a respon sibility for that— and th at’s a finan cial responsibility,” Puracal says. “T he m ost im portant thing is that the defendant, the inm ate, that he not be paying for the state ’s m istake. T hat sh o u ld n ’t be his re sp o n sib ility ,” K aplan says. T he ju stic e advocates say it’s also going to take the c o m m u n ity ’s support to help innocent inm ates tran sitio n into the ‘real w o rld ’ once they are liberated. h o u sin g a p a rtm e n ts an d co n d o s along Interstate A v en u e since the Y ellow Line opened in 2004, T riM et officials said. O ne o f the first ap artm en t h o u s ing projects to open w as the 54-unit Patton Park that w as built on the site o f a rundow n hotel. O pened in 2009, it provided the first large-scale af- Upholstery Cleaning • Sofa/Loveseat • Pet Stains • Flood Restorations CAJtPFT CLEANING & STEAMER 5 0 3 - 7 0 5 - 2 5 8 7 E xtra | rooms $10 each with I coupon. I I Complete Hoi I I Up to I lOOOsq feet Jjvith coupon. , We Also Do Janitorial Services Licensed • Bonded • Insured Carpet Cleaning Spot/Stain R em oval • 2 4 H o u r F lo o d Service U pholstery C leaning • A rea R ug C lean in g • D ry T im e 2-4 H ours Free E stim ates • A vailable W eekends May 7, 2014 “ It’s a really hard life w hen you get out. In fact, in a lot o f states p eople w ho are exonerated, even after being in p rison w rongfully 5 years, 1 0 y e a rs ,2 0 y e a rs ,d o n ’te v en get the sam e services as a paro lee,” says K aplan, “ W hen w e ’ve taken so m eo n e ’s life aw ay, especially for m any, m any o f the m o stly — I ’m g o n n a say m en— w e ’ve taken aw ay the years o f th eir life w here they w ould be in school, getting jo b train ing, starting fam ilies, all this, and they lose that o p p o rtu n ity .” T w en ty -sev en states have som e form o f a co m pensation law for m en and w om en w ho have been found innocent after serving tim e behind bars, though the services and p ay out d iffer in each state and can take years to fully collect. O reg o n is not » one o f these states. Part o f the O regon Innocence P ro ject’s w ork w ill include getting a law on the books that h elp s people unfairly convicted “get back on their feet” once out. P u rac a l’s b ro th er w as assaulted m u ltip le tim es in prison and starved fo rd ab le ho u sin g along Interstate A venue that included a d o zen fa m ily-sized units w ith three bedroom s. T he building also houses a bi-lin- gual day care facility on the ground level. W ith a focus to bring displaced resid en ts b ack to the co m m unity, q u alified first-tim e b u y ers fo r the 5 7 -u n it K illingsw orth S tation co n d o m in iu m p ro ject w ere elig ib le for do w n p ay m en t assistan t through th e P o rtla n d H o u sin g B u re a u ’s D ow n Paym ent A ssistance Loan p ro g r a m . T h e h o u s in g b u re a u p a r tn e r e d w ith th e M in o r ity H o m eo w n ersh ip A ssistan ce C o l laborative to identify and select eli gible hou seh o ld s to receive these loans. S ince the d ecisio n to build the m etro a re a ’s first M A X line in 1980, there has been m ore than $11.5 b il lio n in d ev elo p m en t w ithin w alking d is ta n c e o f th e M A X sta tio n s, T riM et officials said. L ight rail is a p ro v en cataly st fo r developm ent. T h e tra n s it a g e n c y h a s a lso w o rk ed to su p p o rt local co n trac tors. B y elim inating barriers for small b u s in e s s e s , o fte n m in o r ity - o r w o m en -o w n ed , T riM et has created a national m odel o f inclusion for so m uch he lost 30 pounds. O nce out, he ex p lain ed in an interview w ith A ssociated P ress that the goal o f helping his young son, w ho was affected w ith D ow n S yndrom e, was w hat gave him hope behind bars. “I w as alw ays th in k in g o f him . I knew I n eed ed to en d ure this, to get out, and reunite w ith him . H e gave m e hope," the now 37 y ear old e x o n erated p riso n er explained. H is siste r says Jaso n has a d ju ste d w ell back into life to a large extent because o f the services and support he receiv ed from the c o m m unity upon his release. Puracal says the people o f O r egon and around the globe will all be n e c e s s a r y p ie c e s to h e lp th e w rongly co n v icted get back in sync. T he O regon In nocence Project urges p eo p le to su p port them by v o lunteering th eir tim e o r m aking financial con trib u tio ns. F or m ore inform ation about the organization and how to h e lp , v is it o reg o n in n o cen ce.o rg . F or m ore in form ation on the national o rg an iza tion, visit in n o cen cep ro ject.o rg . D is a d v a n ta g e d B u sin e s s E n te r prises (D B E ) firm s w ho previously have been unable to com pete for large con stru ctio n contracts. D B E firm s secured 18 percent o r $35 m illion o f Y ellow L ine contract dollars. F ast forw ard to the P ort land-M ilw aukie L ig h t R ail T ransit P ro je c t n o w u n d e r c o n stru c tio n w here a reco rd 127 D B E firm s have w orked on the project, totaling $ 154 m illion in contracts. “It’s b een so g ratifying to see how w e ’ve helped these sm all firm s grow th eir business, expand into new areas and create fam ily-w age jo b s for o th ers,” said M cF arlane. T he M A X Y ellow line opened fo u r m onths ahead o f schedule and about $25 m illion u n d er budget. It ex p an d ed the M A X system to 44 m iles w ith 64 stations. Since the Y ellow L ine opened in M ay 2004, the M A X system has expanded to 52 m iles and 87 stations serving all three co u n ties in our re g io n . T h e M A X G re e n L in e o p en ed in 2009, and the re g io n ’s sixth M A X construction project, the Portland-M ilw aukie Light Rail T ran sit P roject w ill open on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015 brin g ing the M A X system to 6 0 m iles an d 97 stations. Charles Washington Past Publisher of the Portland O bserver In memory o f on outstanding and dedicated member of Portland's Longest Standing M inority Pidrlieation. or11 attb (Ohscrncv
