Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyer

Although state law in Oregon now allows for the use of marijuana, when approved by a physician, in many medical conditions, the state’s high court ruled last week that employers do not have to cater to those people with medical marijuana authorization if their use violates a workplace policy.

The ruling overturns a decision by the Bureau of Labor and Industries and a following affirmation by the Oregon Court of Appeals. What affect this has on employees and states across the country remains to be seen. [read more...]

According to a report in The Oregonian this past week, TriMet, the state’s largest transit agency will be using $1.9 million in federal dollars to increase the number of cameras in their light-rail stations. According to the report, nearly every step people take now at 74 out of 84 platforms will be seen by these eyes in the sky. [read more...]

A couple, recently married and traveling through Oregon, was victimized as they stopped to enjoy the view. According to Fox 12, the couple was married in Portland on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day they stopped at the Carver Boat Ramp in Clackamas to stretch their legs and take in the sights. [read more...]

Every week, all over the country, “purse parties” are held. At these party people are allowed to shop luxury brand bags and accessories and get them at a fraction of the normal cost. While the majority of these women may wonder why the items are so cheap, many don’t know they are participating in an illegal action. [read more...]

If you are on probation for a criminal conviction, any violation of the probationary terms are supposed to lead to some sort of sanction. However, because this would cause unending paperwork and because minor violations may not warrant a serious sanction, it doesn’t always happen this way. According to the Oregonian, Governor Kulongoski wants more aggressive followup on minor probation violations, and hopes to use some $13.5 million of stimulus money to make this happen.

Measure 57 passed last November toughening up sentences for repeat non-violent offenders. While this was done in the interest of preventing recidivism, budget shortfalls make it nearly impossible to have prison beds for all of the additional state inmates this would create.

As another option, Kulongoski wants to create a sort of last chance probation for these offenders. This probation would be more intense than others in that each violation would go directly before a judge. In other probation cases, the probation officer uses their good judgment and a probationer often doesn’t get taken in front of a judge at all. [read more...]

Effects of the current recession are being felt everywhere. Some counties in Oregon are trimming the budget for all services, including criminal prosecutions. An effect of this is that the County will not be able to prosecute some crimes as aggressively as before.

As this Oregonian report states, this means some felonies will be prosecuted as misdemeanors, some misdemeanors will be downgraded to violations, and some violations will not be pursued at all. Downgrading charges is nothing new but counties can expect to see this at a much higher rate with the budget tightening.

Interestingly, not all counties will be feeling these effects. What does this mean? Well, some think that this will encourage a higher crime rate in those counties that are lightening up on crime. If a thief thinks he can get away with more in Multnomah County than he can in Washington County, he may move his criminal behavior over to the more lax county. [read more...]

The well-known STOP drug Court of Multnomah County is falling victim to budget crunches that plague the entire country. What separates this court from others, however, was its reputation as one of the first effective alternative drug courts in the country. Officials from across the country and around the world traveled to Multnomah County to see how the court worked.

How it worked was by giving drug addicts a second chance at living a crime free life. People charged with non-violent drug offenses were given an option of completing a probation-like period in order to get their charges thrown out. They pled guilty and then completed the program. If they “graduate” successfully, the case is abandoned.

This is a far cry from regular criminal court where the approach has always been to lock them up and throw away the key. If they were granted probation, they were often only sent a letter to ensure their compliance, according to this Oregonian article. The STOP court really addressed the root of the problem for many offenders, drug addiction. [read more...]

Police forces around the country hire consultant firms to review practices and procedures and give unbiased professional advice on how to improve systems. Portland is just hearing about the newest report from such a consultant firm on their police force.

While this article from the Portland News states the majority of the report from the Independent Police Review was positive, there is always room for improvement and the Portland Police Bureau is no different.

The report pointed out improvements made since the last evaluation, particularly regarding use of force in arrest procedures. Interestingly, many of the shortcomings also are related to use of force, a constant area of problems for forces across the country. [read more...]