THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A5
LOCAL & STATE
State Bar clears Union County District
Oregon lawmakers
Att orney Kelsie McDaniel of ethics complaint urge Biden
of the transcripts and affi rmed that none of the
fi ve of the complaints
administration to
allegations against Williams
public records that
concern matters in
were used in drafting in the original memorandum
January 2019, soon
LA GRANDE — Union
revive free community
amounted to ethics viola-
the memorandum
after Williams took
County District Attorney
tions and McDaniel operated
and set to work.
his oath as a judge.
Kelsie McDaniel is free of a
within legal standards and
“When I started
Other district
complaint that hounded her
college plan
frameworks when writing
comparing what
attorneys in Oregon
for almost a year.
By ALEX WITTWER
The (La Grande) Observer
Williams
Kelsie McDaniel had
have fi led similar
said in her memo-
motions to remove
randum to the actual
circuit judges, includ-
transcript, I thought
ing in Umatilla,
there are multiple
Lane and Klamath
misrepresentations,”
counties. And other
Morrison said. “It’s
district attorneys
not just one. It’s not
in Eastern Oregon
Morrison
just an accident be-
have removed Wil-
cause it happens over
liams from cases.
and over and over
The Baker County
again. And they’re
District Attorney’s
serious misrepresen-
Offi ce confi rmed it
tations, because if
disqualifi es Williams
you heard the whole
whenever he pre-
story instead of what
sides on cases there,
she was saying in
though without an
McDaniel
her memorandum, I
accompanying memo.
think your picture of
Oregon law gives
attorneys the power to bench any of those decisions made
by the judge might be very
a judge. An attorney only
different.”
needs to fi le a motion to re-
She said she found an is-
cuse a judge and provide an
affi davit stating they believe sue with nearly every single
complaint in the memo.
they cannot have a fair and
“The DA has essentially
impartial trial or hearing
lied to the court, which we’re
before the judge, and the
action is in good faith and not not allowed to do,” Morrison
said, “and I think has lied to
for the purpose of delaying
the public also about these
proceedings. The affi davits
cases because she has mis-
don’t require evidence or
allegations, such as the ones represented so many of them
from Underhill or McDaniel. in such an extreme way.”
So she sent a complaint of
The law, however, re-
her own to the Oregon State
quires dismissing a judge
in each case. The McDaniel Bar against McDaniel.
memorandum acted as a
blanket dismissal of Wil-
Matters of
liams for all cases.
representations
“It’s very much a nuclear
McDaniel’s accusations
option for something. It
of impropriety cites cases
doesn’t even look like they
where Williams reduced
tried anything else fi rst,” said bail and decided not to jail
Amber Bevacqua-Lynott,
defendants against state
a former Oregon State Bar
recommendations. In one
discipline counsel attorney.
case, during pretrial, the
McDaniel’s offi ce pulled
memo states, Williams gave
it off for more than a year, at advice from the bench to
least up until she took ma-
the defense attorney and
ternity leave earlier this year. recommended a key expert
The district attorney’s offi ce
witness for the defense.
continues to fi le disquali-
But according to Mor-
fi cations against Williams,
rison’s complaint, in that
though without the memo.
case, nearly 250 pages of
transcripts, mostly centered
around pretrial discussions
A second look
Memorandums
regarding suppression of
The disqualifi cations rel-
Williams was not the fi rst
egated Williams to a minimal evidence, show Williams
to receive such a memo.
workload. And the memo un- gave even-handed direction
Rod Underhill as district
derpinning the motions drew and advice to the state and
attorney of Multnomah
the defense. McDaniel did
County in 2017 fi led a nearly the scrutiny of Morrison.
She saw an article in The not paint a true picture of
identical memo against Cir-
Williams’ actions, according
cuit Judge Judith Matarazzo. Observer and the 31-page
The Underhill memo covered memorandum as unusual — to Morrison.
McDaniel, through her
citing multiple occurrences
four areas of concern while
where that judge has shown lawyer Dayna Underhill —
McDaniel’s memo contains
wife of former Multnomah
six, and the Underhill memo- impropriety and bias. She
randum chronicled 10 years said using that memo to sub- County District Attorney Rod
Underhill — asked the Or-
of alleged misconduct where sequently sideline the judge
egon State Bar for a prompt
was cause for concern.
as the McDaniel memoran-
Morrison obtained copies dismissal. The response
dum is from 2019-20, and
Retired attorney Anne
Morrison’s complaint to the
Oregon State Bar against
McDaniel stemmed from the
prosecutor’s action in 2020
to block Circuit Judge Wes
Williams from presiding
over criminal cases. The bar
on Sept. 11 dismissed the
complaint.
“My actions were driven
at all times by my statutory
and constitutional obligations
as DA for Union County,”
McDaniel said. “My represen-
tations have been and will
continue to be truthful and
accurate. When I learn of ad-
ditional information, I clarify.”
The events preceding
the complaint, which The
Observer reported in April
2020, were based on an 31-
page memorandum McDan-
iel submitted to the court
alleging Williams committed
dozens of instances of mis-
conduct and that the state
could not receive a fair trial
under him. McDaniel used
the memo as the basis to
remove Williams from pre-
siding over criminal cases.
Williams has not spoken
about McDaniel’s move to
sideline him.
“The code of judicial ethics
forbids me from making a
public comment regarding
McDaniel’s memo,” he said.
Williams, however, offered
up a written statement he
had prepared:
“My campaign promise
to the people of Union and
Wallowa counties was that I
would honor the principles of
equality before the law and
that I would treat all with
mutual respect and dignity;
and protect their constitu-
tional rights. I have and I will
continue to remain true to
this promise.”
the memo.
The bar dismissed the
ethics complaint, fi nding
McDaniel never misquoted
Williams nor made state-
ments that were lies. The bar
did, however, examine the
allegation that McDaniel had
omitted context in the memo
but determined McDan-
iel only needed to show a
perception of bias to recuse
Williams.
Morrison sticks to
her story
Morrison appealed, but
the bar reaffi rmed its posi-
tion that McDaniel acted in
a lawful way and had done
nothing wrong. The Oregon
State Bar Professional Re-
sponsibility Board also stated
the backdrop of the Mor-
rison complaint was based
on a political feud between
McDaniel and Williams.
“I am pleased that the Or-
egon State Bar Professional
Responsibility Board saw it
the same way and dismissed
the complaint in its entirety,”
McDaniel said. “Being the
district attorney comes with
having to make diffi cult deci-
sions, but I always strive to
do the right thing.”
The memo in the eyes
of the Oregon State Bar
only needed to show what
McDaniel believed to be true,
even if the addition of context
from the court transcripts
provided counterpoints to
many allegations.
Morrison disagreed with
the bar’s ruling.
“What they’re saying
is that in this context, she
doesn’t have to give the full
facts,” she said. “She only has
to give what supports her
belief. I was dumbfounded
when I read that.”
With the bar complaint re-
ceiving its second dismissal,
however, Morrison’s options
moving forward are limited.
“I feel that strongly that
she has badly misrepresent-
ed what happened,” Morrison
said. “And, you know, she’s
the DA. It’s her job to hold
all of us accountable. If we
go out there and violate the
law, we should be called into
account for it. If we’re found
responsible for it, we should
be held responsible for it. ... I
think she should be held ac-
countable for what she does.”
Judge sides with Democrats in
Oregon redistricting dispute
SALEM (AP) — A judge
has found that new congres-
sional districts passed by
Oregon Democrats meet all
legal criteria, with little evi-
dence they amount to blatant
partisan gerrymandering.
Oregon Public Broadcast-
ing reports the tentative
opinion, released Monday,
Nov. 1 by retired state Judge
Henry Breithaupt, is not the
fi nal word in an ongoing law-
suit, in which Republicans
are seeking to have the new
six-district congressional
map redrawn. Breithaupt is
acting as a “special master”
in the case, tasked with
making fi ndings of fact for
a fi ve-judge panel that will
decide the outcome.
Following the latest U.S.
Census Oregon received an
additional seat in the U.S.
House— increasing the num-
ber of congressional districts
from fi ve to six. There are
currently four Democratic
U.S. House members from
Oregon and one Republican.
The fi ndings by Bre-
ithaupt suggest Republicans
have failed to prove their
insistence that Democrats
purposefully stacked the new
congressional maps in their
own favor. A lawsuit fi led on
behalf of former Secretary of
State Bev Clarno and three
other former Republican
elected offi cials called the
map “a clear, egregious parti-
san gerrymander.”
Breithaupt’s opinion
relies heavily on a proposed
set of facts suggested by the
Oregon Department of Jus-
tice, which is representing
the Legislature in defending
the map.
Breithaupt agreed with
the state’s contention that
the new maps meet statuto-
ry criteria requiring them to
be of roughly equal popula-
tions and contiguous, and to
use existing transportation,
political and geographic
boundaries. The judge also
agreed that an additional
factor that must be con-
sidered — that lawmakers
cannot unduly split commu-
nities of common interest —
was diffi cult to determine.
The court challenge to
Oregon’s congressional map
is the state’s fi rst time oper-
ating under a new system
for resolving such confl icts.
Under a law passed in 2013,
a panel of fi ve judges — one
from each of the state’s
current fi ve congressional
districts — are the arbiters
of the dispute. That panel
has until Nov. 24 to decide
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whether to dismiss legal
challenges to the new map.
The congressional map
proposed by Democrats was
a major sticking point in the
special session lawmakers
held to pass new political
maps in September. Repub-
licans objected to the plan
because it spread ultra-
liberal Portland between four
of the districts. They also
took issue with a rejiggered
fi fth congressional district
that now connects Portland
to Bend.
By MEERAH POWELL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Democrats in the
Oregon Legislature sent
letters to the state’s U.S.
congressional delegation
Monday, Nov. 1, urging
them and the Biden
administration to revisit
a plan for free community
college.
President Joe Biden
originally included two
years of free community
college in his “Build Back
Better Plan,” but removed
it from the spending
framework last week.
Democratic leaders on
Capitol Hill worked to
scale back what had
previously been a $3.5
trillion package last week
to satisfy concerns from
moderates in their party,
particularly Sen. Joe
Manchin, D-W.Va., and
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,
D-Ariz.
The state lawmakers
in Oregon are hoping
Biden and other Demo-
cratic leaders will recon-
sider the policy in the
near future.
“By not investing in
two years of free commu-
nity college, this threatens
Oregon’s and the United
States’ ability to develop
and retain a workforce
that meets today’s evolv-
ing industry needs,” the
state Democrats who
authored the letter wrote.
They wrote that two
years of free community
college would help lift
millions of Americans
economically, especially
those from underserved
communities such as
people of color and people
with low incomes.
“I believe the invest-
ments we make in our
students today will yield
many certifi cates and de-
grees needed to strength-
en our community in Ore-
gon and across our nation,
which will help decrease
lifelong debt that many
people are experiencing,”
Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon,
D-Woodburn, one of the
letter’s authors, told OPB
Monday.
The state lawmak-
ers noted that Oregon
already has a version of
free community college
through the Oregon
Promise Act — which
came out of a Senate bill
passed by state lawmak-
ers in 2015.
But, the Oregon
Promise does not cover
everyone. Only students
who have recently earned
an Oregon high school
diploma or GED are
eligible; there are specifi c
requirements for grade
point average and Oregon
residency; and, it only
covers up to 12 credits
per term.
“Oregon shows what
is possible, but we cannot
stop here. We urgently
need more funding to
maintain the Oregon
Promise Act to support
students, retain talent,
and grow our economy,”
the lawmakers wrote.
High school gradu-
ates are choosing not
to attend college due to
rising tuition costs, the
state lawmakers said
— a trend that’s only
been exacerbated by the
pandemic. Enrollment
declined sharply last year
at Oregon’s community
colleges, according to
data shared by the state’s
Higher Education Coordi-
nating Commission.
“This is not sustain-
able. We can and should
build back better,” they
wrote. “That starts by
creating a post-secondary
pathway for students
by removing fi nancial
barriers, like tuition, that
will incentivize students
to attend community col-
leges where they can get
the training they need
to secure a job, receive a
good wage, and ensure we
are economically relevant
and competitive.”
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