Thread by @rachelbusygrl

Oregon Ways & Means voted to decrease funding for public defense by 4.5% today.

In 2018 the Sixth Amendment Center Report said Oregon's public defense system fails defendants & their lawyers. If #orleg wants criminal justice reform then it needs to properly fund public defense.

https://twitter.com/rachelbusygrl/status/1402501703493062656

Oregon was the last state in the country to require unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases.

And the only reason we now have unanimous jury verdicts in Oregon is because of a United States Supreme Court case - Ramos v Louisiana - and not because of the Oregon Legislature.

It has not been a priority for #orleg to ensure that citizens facing the criminal justice system receive due process. Because if it were a priority, the legislature would have voted to change the law & require unanimous juries.
Funding public defense isn't a priority either.

Here's a link to the proposed Department of Justice budget - which includes a pay increase for attorneys from $182/hr to $214/hr.
I got paid $46/hr to defend a case with 3 counts of attempted aggravated murder. Public defense is not a priority for #orleg
justice.oregon.gov/ag/pdf/21-23_d…

The #orleg will most likely approve a raise for the DOJ & the attorneys who chose to defend this case on appeal-the 1 where the cops chased a disabled woman on a scooter & that the Court of Appeals reversed - State v Gayman:

Pay has gone up to $75/hr for attorneys on court-appointed cases. Keep in mind the DOJ attorneys make more than 2x that & get benefits & PERS.
Here's the full opinion in Gayman:
documentcloud.org/documents/2080…
And article with bodycam video:
oregonlive.com/crime/2021/06/…

True criminal justice reform in Oregon means equal pay.
That #orleg approved a 4.5% decrease in funding for public defense in the same session they will approve a raise for DOJ attorneys tells you #orleg values prosecutors over defense & think prosecutors deserve higher pay.

DA budgets come from their city but the police budget is separate. The DOJ gets funded by the state & has a whole division called “District Attorney Assistance Program” that has 10 full time positions:

So when defense attorneys talk about “the immense power of the state” - it’s DAs - with their own big budgets getting help from the DOJ & it’s resources too. Here’s more info on what the DA Assistance Program does:

The DOJ cites "given the growth and complexities of crime in this state over the last decade" as reason for DA Assistance. Yet Brennan Center report shows crime rates have been dropping in largest US cities.
Fear-mongering over 'rising crime' is a tactic
brennancenter.org/our-work/analy…

This 2011 short report from PSU's Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute (CJPRI) is helpful in looking at reasons why people do not want to believe crime rates drop:
pdx.edu/criminology-cr…

“Other research also points to the important influence that media & popular culture have on shaping public attitudes about crime & criminal justice. “

Another reason media should stop publishing LE press releases on incidents as though they are facts.

@threadreaderapp unroll this thread