Courts

Oregon lawmakers convene the 2023 legislative session in January, and leaders from both major parties say that improving the criminal justice system – specifically the severe shortage of public defenders – is among their top priorities. And there's precious little daylight between prosecutors and defense attorneys on the issue either.

The decision likely means that the returns will be released to the committee immediately, ending a multiyear legal battle.

Since February, some 285 misdemeanor and felony cases have been dismissed by judges in Multnomah County because there wasn’t a defense lawyer available to appoint to the case.

During a hearing Wednesday in Washington D.C., Adrienne Nelson, an associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court, told senators she brings an open mind, impartiality to each case. "I try to communicate all decisions clearly, so that they can be understood," Nelson testified. "And if I’m so fortunate to be confirmed, I would continue to do that.”

A man charged with multiple criminal counts, including sexual abuse, has been in jail for nearly two months without access to a public defender, a situation that is not unusual in the midst of Oregon’s public defense crisis.

More than 100 people told the West Linn Police department that former doctor David Farley sexually abused them. The chief of police believes them. But prosecutors didn’t secure charges.

A decision Wednesday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals builds on a 2018 ruling involving the city of Boise, which found a person cannot be punished for sleeping in public if there’s nowhere else for them to go.

Steve Singer had led the Office of Public Defense Services since January. Oregon Chief Justice Martha Walters wanted him out — and ensured that happened with a rejiggered commission.

Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters is set to remove all nine members of the Public Defense Services Commission by noon Tuesday. Last week, the commissioners were deadlocked over whether or not to not remove executive director Steve Singer.

Revisiting claims of innocence and speeding up the expungement process was a cornerstone of Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt’s election platform in 2020. But after a first attempt in 2021 to get the program up and running sputtered, Schmidt’s vision might finally be coming into focus.