STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
A13
Plaintiffs say Oregon governor’s COVID-19 orders have expired
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
Gov. Kate Brown’s execu-
tive orders during the corona-
virus pandemic have already
expired under state law, the
lawyer for a group of churches
and other plaintiffs argues in a
brief filed Tuesday in the Ore-
gon Supreme Court.
Ray Hacke, an attorney with
the Pacific Justice Institute in
Salem, argues that because
Brown invoked the state’s pub-
lic health emergency law, she is
bound by its 28-day limit.
Hacke filed a 29-page brief
in response to the brief Oregon
Solicitor General Benjamin
Gutman filed May 28 on behalf
of Brown.
The court had set a dead-
line of Tuesday for Hacke
and another Salem attorney,
Kevin Mannix, who represents
a group of intervenors, to file
briefs in response. Mannix also
filed his brief Tuesday.
Mannix, in his brief, said
the governor still has signif-
icant powers to address the
coronavi-
rus pandemic
under Ore-
gon’s public
health laws,
included in
ORS Chapter
Judge Matt
431A.
Shirtcliff
The key
point, however, is that these
broad powers do not include
the powers to close businesses
and churches or to impose
“re-opening” orders on coun-
ties, Mannix argued.
At issue is the prelimi-
nary injunction Baker County
Circuit Judge Matt Shirtcliff
granted to the plaintiffs on May
18. The Supreme Court later
that day set aside the injunction
and allowed the state to con-
tinue to enforce the governor’s
executive orders restricting
some businesses and limiting
the size of public gatherings,
including church services, to
25 people.
After Shirtcliff declined to
withdraw his decision granting
the preliminary injunction, the
Supreme Court told attorneys
on both sides to submit writ-
ten arguments for whether the
injunction should stand.
The Supreme Court has
not given a timeline for its
decision.
In his brief, Hacke addresses
the two state laws Brown has
cited during the pandemic.
The first is Oregon Revised
Statutes chapter 401. That’s the
general emergency law Brown
invoked when she initially
declared an emergency due the
pandemic on March 8. Chapter
401 does not set a time limit on
the emergency — it can con-
tinue until either the governor
or the Legislature decides to
end it.
The second law is ORS
chapter 433, which deals spe-
cifically with public health
emergencies. Chapter 433,
which Brown cited in several
of the executive orders she
issued following the March 8
emergency declaration, has a
28-day limit.
Hacke contends that, when
two laws are involved, the
“newer and more specific pro-
vision” is the controlling stat-
ute. Chapter 433 is newer,
passed by the Legislature in
2003 and revised in 2007.
Chapter 401 dates to 1949.
He writes in the brief that
Brown cannot “treat the time
limits imposed under (chapter)
433 as optional.”
Shirtcliff, the circuit court
judge, agreed with that reason-
ing in his decision granting the
preliminary injunction.
Gutman disputes that inter-
pretation of the interplay
between the two laws. He
argued in his May 28 brief that
the laws are not in conflict but
are instead complementary,
and that Brown can invoke an
emergency under chapter 401,
without time limits, but also
use the specific powers granted
under chapter 433 without then
being limited to the 28 days in
that statute.
Hacke countered a con-
tention in Gutman’s brief that
the plaintiffs “did not assert
a free-exercise claim in their
complaint.”
Hacke cited sections in the
amended lawsuit contend-
ing that one of Brown’s exec-
utive orders “at least implic-
itly impinges on plaintiffs’ free
exercise of religion” under the
Oregon Constitution.
Hacke also argues in his
brief that Brown’s execu-
tive orders “have consis-
tently shown hostility toward
religion.”
He cited executive order
20-25, which limits “faith-
based gatherings” to 25 peo-
ple, regardless of the size of the
church building.
Hacke notes that during
phase one of the state’s reopen-
ing plan, the governor allows
restaurants and bars to deter-
mine maximum occupancy
while still maintaining social
distancing, but doesn’t allow
churches to use the same
guidelines.
Hacke acknowledged that,
although Brown signed exec-
utive order 20-25 after the
lawsuit was filed, two earlier
orders also fail to treat religious
gatherings with the same leni-
ency as secular gatherings.
Hacke concludes his brief
by asking the Supreme Court
to affirm Shirtcliff’s deci-
sion to grant the preliminary
injunction, which would block
the governor from enforc-
ing executive orders, includ-
ing those limiting the num-
ber of people attending church
services.
The Supreme Court could
do so for either of two reasons,
Hacke argues.
The first reason is the gov-
ernor’s failure to abide by the
28-day limit by which Hacke
contends she is bound.
The second reason, Hacke
writes, is that “the severe cur-
tailment of core constitutional
freedoms even in areas of the
state that have experienced
few or no coronavirus cases
cannot be further sustained.”
“When wielding her emer-
gency powers, the Governor
can and should — nay, must
— respect individual liberties
to the greatest extent possi-
ble,” Hacke writes.
Capital Press contributed
to this story.
Congressional seat is GOP’s to lose in second district
It’s bigger than some
states, includes two time zones
and is a bright red Republi-
can stronghold in a deeply
blue Democratic state. Ore-
gon’s CD2 — shorthand for
the 2nd Congressional Dis-
trict — has been on electoral
autopilot the past two decades,
sending Rep. Greg Walden,
R-Hood River, to Washington,
D.C., 11 straight times. He’s
the only Republican among
Oregon’s congressional del-
egation of two senators and
five members of the House of
Representatives.
Something that hasn’t hap-
pened this century will occur
Nov. 3. There will be no CD2
incumbent on the ballot —
Walden is retiring at the end
of the current session. Repub-
lican Cliff Bentz, a former
state senator from Ontario,
emerged as the winner from a
scrum of 11 candidates in the
May 19 GOP primary. He’ll
face writer and political strat-
egist Alex Spenser of Klam-
ath Falls, winner of the Demo-
cratic primary.
Odds are the Republican
will take the oath of office
Jan. 3 when the 117th United
States Congress convenes.
“Cliff Bentz is as close to
a sure thing as you can get,”
said longtime Oregon election
analyst Jim Moore, a politics
and government professor at
Pacific University.
A more than 40,000 Repub-
lican voter registration edge
over Democrats, combined
with Spenser’s lack of name
recognition and campaign
funds, is enough for Bentz to
win the district, Moore said.
There are over 203,000
non-affiliated registered vot-
ers, but Moore said those that
go to the polls “break the same
way as whatever the Republi-
can-Democratic split goes.”
Democrat
Jamie
McLeod-Skinner of Terre-
bonne ran for the seat in 2018.
She was an adroit fundraiser
and campaigned nonstop, driv-
ing 40,000 miles criss-cross-
ing the district. She still only
won 39% of the vote in a year
Democrats piled-up wins to
take control of the House. With
the COVID-19 pandemic, ral-
lies and meetings in 2020 are
going to be small or non-exis-
tent. Most of the campaigning
will be online and ads on tele-
vision or social media.
“Spenser maybe gets 35%
of the vote, since there is no
incumbent,” Moore said.
Dems bet ‘Dump Trump’
wave will win
Spenser, 55, says she knows
she has a tough task to get to
Capitol Hill. But 2020 is dif-
ferent: an unprecedented elec-
tion year of pandemic, record
unemployment and a “divi-
sive” President Trump at the
top of the ticket.
“There’s going to be a blue
tsunami,” she said.
Spenser didn’t start out as
a congressional candidate at
all. She was campaign man-
ager for Raz Mason of The
Dalles. When Mason dropped
out of the race, she encour-
aged Spenser to jump in. On
the night of the primary, the
first returns showed Spenser
trailing Nick Heuertz, a non-
profit vice-president from Cen-
tral Point. But in the end, she
eked out a victory of just over
800 votes.
Molly Woon, deputy direc-
tor of the Democratic Party of
Oregon, said the party has just
recently been reaching out to
Spenser and other Democratic
primary winners in congres-
sional and legislative races to
bring them into the concerted
2020 efforts in Oregon.
“I’m looking forward to
meeting all the other Demo-
cratic candidates to compare
strategies,” Spenser said.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Oregon, said the race is an
opportunity for the Democratic
Party.
“I have worked with Rep.
Walden on issues that affect
Oregon where we have found
common ground,” Wyden said.
“But in November, I’m with
the Democrat.”
Spenser said she wants to
tap into the large number of
non-affiliated voters, along
with Republicans who can
no longer support the party’s
agenda under President Don-
ald Trump. She sees water as
one of the keys that will res-
onate with district voters. She
supports a $450 million plan
to restore the Klamath River
by removing four hydroelec-
tric dams in Oregon and Cal-
ifornia. It would be part of a
national trend which has seen
1,700 dams across the nation
removed in recent years. Wind
farms can provide electric-
ity and also help with irriga-
tion, Spenser said. She wants
a more efficient and equitable
way to distribute water in East-
ern Oregon.
“You have 90% of the water
going to irrigation and 40% of
that is lost through evapora-
tion,” she said. “Meanwhile,
wells are running low in Har-
ney County. At the bottom is
arsenic — we’re going to poi-
son these people.”
Regardless of the message,
the electoral number crunchers
say Spenser is facing an uphill
battle that looks more like a
wall than a slope.
The Cook Voting Index
rates districts by their pro-
pensity to back one party or
the other in presidential races.
CD2 is “R+11” — meaning it
is expected to give the Repub-
lican nominee 11% more of the
district’s vote than the national
average. In 2016, the district
gave nearly 55% of its vote to
Donald Trump, while Demo-
crat Hillary Clinton won 35%.
In 2012, Republican Mitt Rom-
ney received 56% of the vote
compared to 40% for President
Barack Obama.
Herding Republicans
Covering nearly 70,000
square miles, district voters in
the sparsely populated east-
ern, central and south central
two-thirds of the state have
voted solidly Republican over
the past 40 years. Successive
reapportionments have added
reliably conservative areas to
CD2, with Democrats largely
content to put the largest con-
centration of the state’s Repub-
licans into CD2. The move has
enabled Democrats to win and
hold the other four House seats
in Oregon.
One of the ironies is CD2
is among the most politi-
cally flexible in the country
— just not in a way that helps
Democrats.
Nate Silver, an analyst of
election data, showed Oregon’s
CD is the 25th most politically
“elastic” of the nation’s 435
congressional districts. Sil-
ver, editor of the political web-
site FiveThirtyEight.com —
named for the total of Senate
and House seats in the coun-
try — measures how sensi-
tive each House district is to
changes in the national polit-
ical mood. An elastic district
will show big shifts in voter
preferences. Inelastic districts
tend to stay in a much smaller
range whatever the immediate
political situation.
Voter sentiment in CD2
can be moved a great deal —
but the end result, a Repub-
lican victory, is the same.
Walden won the seat by over
70% of the vote in 2014 and
2016, but received “only”
56% of the vote in 2018. In
most districts, a swing of 14%
would likely bring victory to
the other party. But in CD2,
it means Republican victories
range from blowouts to com-
fortable wins.
Like Walden, Bentz had
put in years as a state law-
maker representing Eastern
Oregon in the House and Sen-
ate, where he was known as
somewhat of a wonk on trans-
portation issues. While sup-
porting Trump, Bentz didn’t
make it a centerpiece of his
campaign — in a group of
candidates trying to grab the
right side of the political spec-
trum, Bentz represented a con-
servative middle ground. He
emphasized his family’s long
history in the district, his con-
servative voting record in the
Legislature and stuck much of
the time to regional issues like
federal land use, water and
agriculture.
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Committee Volunteers Needed
Grant County is now recruiting volunteers to serve on
active boards and committees.
Obtain an Application to Volunteer from County Court,
201 S. Humbolt, No. 280, Canyon City OR 97820;
(541-575-0059) puckettk@grantcounty-or.gov
Applications are due by Tuesday, June 30 th , 2020
Committees are formal public bodies required to comply with
Oregon Public Meetings Law ORS 192.610.
College Advisory Board
Seven members plus three ex-officio members serve a three year term and meet monthly to
promote local educational opportunities and identify educational needs within the community.
Extension & 4-H Service District Advisory Council
Eleven members serve three year terms and meet semi-annually to provide guidance
and assistance to local OSU Extension staff in planning, developing, and evaluating
balanced educational programs directed to high priority needs of county residents.
Membership is limited to one re-appointment.
Library Advisory Board
Seven members serve four year terms and meet monthly to promote public awareness
and support of library services, receive public input, review and update library
materials, and coordinate activities with the Grant County Library Foundation.
Membership is limited to one re-appointment.
Natural Resources Advisory Committee
Nine members serve one and two year terms. Members must live in Grant County and
constitute a representation of agriculture and livestock production, timber and wood
products production, recreation, hunting and fishing, water resources, mining, cultural
resources and advocates for natural resources stewardship through continuation of the
customs, culture, health, safety and economic stability of Grant County.
Senior Citizens Advisory Council
Five members serve three year terms and meet semi-annually to define the needs of
older adults, promote special interests and local community involvement, and represent
senior citizens as an advocate to the local, state and federal government and other
organizations.
The Grant Union Class of 2020 would like to extend a HUGE
Thank you to the businesses and people who donated for our
GRAD NIGHT, which was done differently this year. Without
the support of everyone, this would not have been possible.
John Day River Veterinary Center
John Day True Value Hardware
Keerins Ranch LLC
John Day Video & Electronics
Berry Creek Ranch
City of John Day
Blue Mountain Chiropractic
Land Title Company
Old West Federal Credit Union
J.C. Oliver, Inc.
Oregon Telephone Corporation
Bar WB
L & L Excavating
J & D Logging and Contracting
Mobile Glass of Oregon, Inc.
Huffman’s Market
Driskill Memorial Chapel
Shaun & Collen Robertson
Les Schwab
GC Fair Grounds
Ed Staub & Sons
Tanni Wenger Photography
HECS
We would also like to thank all the folks who bought
wreaths to support the class of 2020.
S192503-1
S188395-1
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By Gary A. Warner
For Oregon Capital Bureau