JULY 19, 2017
Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 42
25
CENTS
News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 Inequality in Schools ......8
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
PHOTO BY MELANIE SEVCENKO
THE BIG FLOAT
Shafia M. Monroe speaks at the Midwives, Others
and Mothers Alliance (MOMA) Against Police
Violence press conference.
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
B
irth workers, mothers and com-
munity members convened in
Northeast Portland last Friday
to address the incidents of abuse
against pregnant and postpartum wom-
en of color at the hand of police.
Under the recently formed initiative,
Midwives, Others, and Mothers Alli-
ance, the press conference was orga-
nized by African American midwife
and activist Shafia M. Monroe in re-
sponse to the killing of Charleena Lyles
by Seattle police last month.
AP PHOTO/EVAN VUCCI
See MIDWIVES on page 3
In this July 7 file photo, President Donald Trump
meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the
G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. Trump had a
second, previously undisclosed conversation with
Putin at the summit it Germany.
World News
Briefs page 10
Hundreds of people participated in the Big Float July 15 on the Willamette River. The annual fundraiser for the Human Access Project featured a parade
and “Portland’s Grandest Beach Party,” which included a music barge, live music, food carts, a beer/wine garden, sponsor booths and an activities area
for the kids.
State Reduces Drug Possession Offenses
New law addresses racial disparities in drug enforcement, incarceration
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
O
regon legislatures passed a
landmark bill this week that
reclassifies small scale posses-
sion of illegal drugs – heroin,
methamphetamine, cocaine and oth-
ers – from a felony to a misdemeanor.
The reclassification is part of a
broader trend to “defelonization,”
with 18 states having already defelo-
nized small possession of drugs.
“Oregon’s victory is a significant
part of the national shift towards
smarter justice. We’ll see more and
more states moving in this direc-
tion,” said Emily Kaltenbach, senior
director of Criminal Justice Reform
Strategy at Drug Policy Alliance, a
national advocacy group.
As the law stands now in Oregon,
small possession is a Class B or C
felony — punishable by up to 10 or
Rally to end the War on Drugs, MacArthur Park,
Los Angeles, Nov. 3, 2011.
According to the Drug Policy Al-
liance, U.S. law enforcement makes
at least 1.2 million arrests on drug
possession every year. On any given
night, at least 133,000 people are be-
hind bars in U.S. prisons and jails for
See POSSESSION on page 3
Proposed Policy Revives and Extends 48-Hour Rule
Wheeler asks DA’s office to consider alternatives to last week’s ruling
The Skanner News Staff
Read the Library
Book Before You See
the Movie
page 7
20 years in prison and $250,000 or
$375,000 in fines.
The new legislation knocks down
small possession to a Class A misde-
meanor, which could result in one
year in jail and/or a $6,250 fine.
Last March, the ACLU of Oregon
conducted a poll which found that 73
percent of state voters overwhelm-
ing favored changing small scale
possession charges from a felon to a
misdemeanor.
It seems the state legislature felt
the same way.
Passing such a bill is an attempt
to addresses mass incarceration, as
well as racial disparities, connected
to life-damaging drug charges.
“Drug sentences, felonies in partic-
ular, end up being life time sentenc-
es in our society, not just short term
‘debts paid to society,’” said Sen. Lew
Frederick, who has vocally support-
ed the bill.
PHOTO: NIKKI DAVID / NEON TOMMY
Black women and girls
account for 33 percent
of all women killed by
police
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Midwives
Meet on
Police
Violence
L
ast week the Portland
Police Bureau pro-
posed a policy change
that could delay po-
lice interviews of officers
involved in deadly force —
possibly by weeks. Mayor
Ted Wheeler is pushing
back, but has declined ac-
tivists’ request for a hear-
ing on the matter.
The union contract be-
tween the Portland Police
Association and the city
last fall did away with
the “48-hour rule” — a
clause allowing officers to
wait two days before giv-
ing a statement after be-
ing involved in deadly use
of force cases. Wheeler
had promised to do away
with the rule during his
campaign.
PPB’s proposed change
is based on Multnomah
County District Attorney
Rod Underhill’s citation of
an Oregon Supreme Court
ruling that he says requires
internal investigators to
wait until after a criminal
investigation and grand
jury review have been
completed before they can
compel a statement from
officers. He’s said he won’t
See 48-HOUR on page 3
