Opinion
Oregon: Vote Yes on Measure 90
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I
n 2007, while I was a member
of the Oregon State Senate, I
voted to oppose Senate Bill
630, which would have created a
non-partisan primary. At the time I
did not believe that the 50 plus one
aspect of the bill represented the
best interests of my constituents in
Senate District 22 or that of all
Oregonians. Measure 90 ensures
that there is both a primary and a
general election.
I have watched partisan gridlock
in the country continue to get
worse over the past several years,
and remembering the 16-day gov-
ernment shut down in October
2013, I came to revisit my views.
I’ve heard all of the arguments
surrounding measure 90 and am
now supporting it. To me the most
important reason to support Meas-
ure 90 is that a democracy does
not lock out over 650,000 Orego-
nians from our primary elections,
many of them young people aged
40 and under, because of a lack of
party affiliation or minor party
affiliation as our system does
today.
Those 650,000 taxpaying voters,
could fill Autzen (Oregon Ducks)
and Reser (Oregon State Beavers)
Stadiums 6.5 times combined,
they could fill up the Moda Center
(Portland Trailblazers) 32 times,
and they are more than the entire
population of the City of Portland.
G UEST
C OLUMN
Margaret
Carter
According to Kate Brown’s
office, my former senate colleague
and current Secretary of State,
nearly 32% of all Oregon voters
are either minor party or non-affil-
iated voters and of those 49% are
under the age of 40. And, a few
more facts: As of July, non-affili-
ated or minor party voters
years ago.
There is an argument that as a
former legislator, educator, mother
of nine and grandmother of 26
grandchildren that I’d like to
refute-this notion that an open pri-
mary will hurt minorities and
minority representation. The inter-
ests
of
traditionally
disenfranchised populations are
not generally well represented
when there is little opportunity for
people from those communities to
be elected. That is especially true
for young people, women,
LGBTQ, and communities of
color.
Since the opponents of Measure
90 often point to California as a
place where this has not worked,
As of July, non-affiliated or minor party
voters outnumbered Oregon
Republicans 663,197 to 650,407
outnumbered Oregon Republicans
663,197 to 650,407, and national-
ly 46% of the Latino electorate are
not registering with the major par-
ties. According to a recent poll by
Gallup, 42% of Americans identi-
fy themselves as independent or
non-affiliated voters, the highest
Gallup has measured since it
began surveying this question 25
let’s consider their U.S. House,
state house and state senate dele-
gations. Before redistricting
reforms and adoption of the open
primary, California had 57 minori-
ty representatives, following the
reforms and the 2012 elections
California saw a net gain of an
additional 11 seats held by minori-
ties in that short period. This
includes Hispanic, African-Ameri-
can,
and
Asian-American
legislators. I hope to be able to say
something similar in Oregon one
day.
Measure 90 is not a silver bullet
that will solve all of the problems
in politics, such as campaign
finance reform, voter turnout, or
gerrymandering. That’s not its job.
What Measure 90 does do is pro-
vide
over
650,000
disenfranchised, taxpaying voters
an opportunity to participate in the
elections that currently count the
most in our state, where nearly
90% of our legislative primaries
decide our general elections.
It gives voters real choices at the
ballot box by listing not just the
candidate’s affiliation but also the
parties that have endorsed them
and the endorsements that they
have actually accepted. This is
important information for voters
that will be listed right on the bal-
lot.
Let’s vote yes for real choices
and re-establish Oregon as a pro-
gressive leader on voting rights!
Margaret Carter is a retired
Oregon State Senator and Presi-
dent
Pro-Tempore,
former
Portland Urban League President
and former Chair of the Oregon
Democratic Party, Portland, Ore-
gon.
Hands Up! Driving While Black – and Poor
S
t. Louis County has 90
municipalities – ranging in
population from 13 to nearly
52,000 – and most of them sustain
themselves by targeting, fining
and jailing poor Missouri resi-
dents, many of them Black, who
are unable to pay traffic tickets.
A “white paper” by ArchCity
Defenders, a group that defends the
poor in the St. Louis area for free,
carefully details how Ferguson and
other small villages and municipal-
ities in the state have perfected the
art of exploiting those who drive
while Black – and poor.
According to the report, three
municipal courts in Missouri –
Ferguson, Bel-Ridge and Floris-
sant – “were chronic offenders and
serve as prime examples of how
these practices violate fundamen-
tal rights of the poor, undermine
public confidence in the judicial
system, and create inefficiencies.”
It continued, “Overall, we found
that by disproportionately stop-
ping, charging and fining the poor
and minorities, by closing the
Courts to the public, and by incar-
cerating people for the failure to
pay fines, these policies uninten-
tionally push the poor further into
poverty, prevent the homeless
from accessing the housing, treat-
ment, and jobs they so desperately
need to regain stability in their
lives, and violate the Constitution.
“These ongoing violations of the
most fundamental guarantees of
the Constitution are the product of
a disordered, fragmented, and
inefficient approach to criminal
justice in St. Louis County. It rep-
resents a failure of the
Municipalities to comply with the
guarantees of counsel, reasonable
bond assessments, and other con-
stitutional and legal rights of those
none were arrested.
•
In
Ferguson, 86 percent of all
T HE C URRY
traffic stops in 2013 involved
R EPORT
Blacks. Of those stopped, Blacks
were almost twice as likely as
George E.
Whites to be searched (12.1 per-
Curry
cent vs. 6.9 percent) and twice as
likely to be arrested (10.4 percent
vs. 5.2 percent). Interestingly,
after being searched, only 21.7
percent of Blacks were found
accused. And, perhaps most
with contraband, compared to 34
importantly, these practices create
percent of Whites.
animosity in the community, con- • In Florissant, Blacks were
‘By disproportionately stopping,
charging and fining the poor and
minorities, by closing the Courts to the
public, and by incarcerating people
for the failure to pay fines, these
policies unintentionally push the poor
further into poverty’
tribute to the fractured nature of
the St. Louis region, and cost the
individual municipalities and the
region financially.”
Unmistakably, poor Blacks drive
through certain Missouri munici-
palities with a huge X on their
back.
• Last year in Bel-Ridge, 75.7 per-
cent of all traffic stops involved
Black motorists. What happened
after the stops is even more
telling. According to the study,
100 percent of all searches and
arrests growing out of traffic
stops were of African Ameri-
cans. In other words, of 775
Blacks pulled over by police, 11
were searched and 32 were
arrested. Of 219 non-Blacks
stopped, none were searched and
Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner September 10, 2014
arrested 14.9 percent of the time,
twice the White rate of 7.2 per-
cent. Whites were searched 8
percent of the time vs. 15.8 per-
cent of Blacks. Yet, contraband
was found on only 7.4 percent of
Black residents compared to 12
percent of Whites.
These disproportionate arrests of
Blacks translates into more green
for the cities.
For example, of Pine Lawn’s
4,204 residents, 96 percent are
Black. It has a per capita income
of only $13,000. Last year, Pine
Lawn collected more than $1.7
million in fines and court fees.
That’s $500,000 more than
Chesterfield, an affluent, predomi-
nantly White suburb with five
times the population of Pine Lawn
(47,000) and a per capita income
almost four times that of Pine
Lawn ($50,000).
If one can afford an attorney,
they have all of the advantages.
Typically, in the case of a speeding
ticket, the attorney requests what
is called “recommendation for dis-
position.” In those cases a
speeding ticket is amended to a
non-moving violation, such as
excessive vehicle noise, upon pay-
ment of a fine and court costs. The
offender is able to avoid points on
his or her record as well as a pos-
sible insurance increase. Poor
people, however, don’t get that
benefit.
“…in all but a very few, these
municipalities fail to provide
lawyers for those who cannot
afford counsel,” the report stated.
“As a result, unrepresented defen-
dants often enter pleas of guilty
without knowing that they have
right to consult with a lawyer,
although this information is on
many court websites. Defendants
are also sentenced to probation
and to the payment of unreason-
able fines without a knowing,
voluntary, and intelligent waiver
of defendant’s right to counsel.
Despite their poverty, defendants
are frequently ordered to pay fines
that are frequently triple their
monthly income.
“Defendants are entitled to a
hearing to determine their ability
to pay, under Missouri Law. Upon
revocation of probation because of
their inability to pay, defendants
are again entitled to an inquiry
into their ability to pay. Based on
our observations, this rarely
occurs. As a result, defendants are
incarcerated for their poverty.”
Yes, race and money still mat-
ters.