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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 11, 2016)
2016 Washington Classic QR code for Portland Observer Online ‘City of Roses’ SECTION B Volume XLV Number 19 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • May 11, 2016 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Roadblocks at the Courthouse Report on DAs is push for criminal justice reform M ichael l eighton p ortland o bserver e ditor As Oregon votes in next week’s Primary Election most of the candidates overseeing crimi- nal justice in the state won’t face any opposition and that’s a road- block to reforming laws that dis- proportionately impact minori- ties, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. District attorneys (DAs) in Or- egon are rarely challenged even though they have a powerful role in our criminal justice system and that locks in the status quo, said David Rogers, the nonproit group’s state executive director. He said the resulting number of unopposed races, including Multnomah County which covers Portland, leads to less voter en- gagement on criminal justice re- form issues and continues a pat- tern where state district attorneys have blocked a bipartisan push for “smart” justice. “Given the recent high-proile stories about racial disparity in Multnomah County, it is import- ant to show one of the reasons we aren’t making progress,” Rogers said. Earlier this year, a MacArthur Foundation Safety and Justice re- port made in conjunction with the Oregon Justice Resource Center, other justice groups and govern- ment oficials found that at ev- ery stage of the criminal justice system in Portland and across Oregon you are punished more severely if you are black, Latino or Native American. “District attorneys determine whether someone gets access to treatment or put in jail or prison, whether a youth is charged as an adult, and DAs largely inluence the extent of racial disparity in the system” said Rogers. “Vot- photo by M ichael l eighton /t he p ortland o bserver ers deserve to know where their Outside the Multnomah County Courthouse, David Rogers, executive director of the American Civil elected DAs stand on all of these Liberties Union of Oregon, gives attention to a new ACLU Oregon report showing how uncontested issues.” district attorney races are a factor in tapping down criminal justice reform. Between 2004 and 2014, 78 by percent of Oregon district attor- ney races were uncontested, and over 1 million Oregonians did not cast votes in their DA race, according to the ACLU investi- gation. The ACLU Oregon investiga- tion inds that district attorneys are in the best position to imple- ment new policies to curtail state prison growth and spending, but points to the Oregon District At- torneys Association for blocking proposed legislative reforms. “Instead of being the leaders in criminal justice reform, DAs have largely been roadblocks Even as crime rates have sig- niicantly decreased, prosecutors have increased the rate at which they charge people with felonies, Rodgers said. “Oregon’s goal should be to reduce the prison population, a goal DAs don’t seem to share.” When Michael Schrunk retired four years ago as district attorney for Multnomah County after 32 years in ofice in which he drew an opponent just one time, his chief deputy Rod Underhill ran for the ofice unopposed. On the ballot for re-election on Tuesday, he again faces no challenger. Rogers says it’s possible Un- derhill can be a leader on justice reform issues, but being part of the solution won’t happen with- out a public that’s more engaged and one that’s demands account- ability. He cites the Portland Police Bureau’s union-contracted 48 hour rule, which allows oficers to delay talking to investigators for 48 hours after an oficer-in- volved shooting, as an example of an issue that justice activists have sought to eliminate, but has gone nowhere for years. Reforming the grand jury pro- cess over the decision to indict police oficers around misconduct or oficer-involved shootings is c ontinued on p age 4