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Jul 13 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
If a defendant is being routed through a "social service navigator" that works for the DA - they are working w/ an agency w/ a conflict of interest. This is a terrible idea. Stop throwing $ at DAs & law enforcement!
Prioritize funding public defense & social services.
#orpol
No questions in this article about the studies that show non-prosecution of low-level misdemeanors leads to safer communities. That the court backlog could be immediately reduced by better charging practices by DAs - less overcharging of cases & better settlement offers.
#orpol
DAs are not social workers. Neither are police. What is it going to take to stop throwing $ at LE for issues that there are community-based services for but who lack adequate funding? This 🧵 breaks down juvenile justice reform successes:
#orpol
Why are so many attys leaving public defense? 1 reason is willingness of gov't (city or state) to always have $ for law enforcement & prosecutors but somehow not have any $ for public defense: even when defendants are sitting in custody w/o attys:
#orpol
Oregon, the last state to require unanimous jury verdicts, the Court of Appeals today reversed a conviction for DAs excluding jurors based on race, & when confronted with the 1st yr of pandemic backlog of the criminal justice system the #orleg cut the budget for public defense.
And response by leadership from various stakeholders seems to be that Oregon's criminal justice system crisis & lack of defense attorneys is incumbent on public defense alone to fix. Get more attorneys NOW! Nevermind that attys r leaving in droves & no one will take cases #orpol
$700,000 could've gone directly to social service agencies to actually help people & instead goes to an already well-funded DA's office. DAs do not & can not represent victims. DA offices should refer all crime victims to orgs that can, like @ocvlc Oregon Crime Victims Law Center

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More from @rachelbusygrl

Rachel Philips Profile picture
Jul 14
A Black defendant has his convictions reversed by the Oregon Court of Appeals because the DAs excused the only 2 Black jurors over the defense objection & this hasn't made a single local news outlet? Portland murder trial reversed - trial was under then MultCo DA Rod Underhill.
Oregon was the VERY LAST state to stop the racist practice of non-unanimous jury verdicts. COA says in its opinion, "We begin with the axiom, no longer subject to reasonable debate, that racial discrimination in the selection of jurors is harmful."
This should be a big deal.
COA ends with, "That implausibility is evidence of purposeful discrimination which, in light of “all of the circumstances that bear on racial animosity,” leads us to the conclusion that the trial court clearly erred in excusing jurors number 6 & number 9 from the trial jury."
Read 22 tweets
Rachel Philips Profile picture
Jul 13
If PDSC wants to overhaul the system a good first step would be to take the claims of disparate pay by gender & retaliation seriously. After all, attorney Tara Herival won her case against OPDS paying her less in June 2022:
What is the status of the investigation?"Multiple women defense attys have spoken w/ ACLU of Oregon about their experiences...(1) they have faced serious situations of retaliation from OPDS, including multiple situations of retaliation by a leadership-level male employee of OPDS"
"It is extremely concerning that attorneys who are versed in the law and vigorous advocates for their clients are expressing significant levels of fear about sharing [these] concerns," said Sandy Chung, director of @ACLU_OR -- August 2021
portlandmercury.com/news/2021/08/1…
.
Read 13 tweets
Rachel Philips Profile picture
Nov 13, 2021
Good for the O, now other Oregon legacy media need to stop giving this former DA a platform to spread outright misrepresentations.

Brady material is anything that *might* be exculpatory - admissibility is NOT a factor in whether or not something is Brady material.
In this piece by 2 former DAs there are claims that a police officer having lied about violating rules “had nothing to do with any particular case” & therefore would not be Brady material.

This is flat out WRONG.
Brady material is any evidence favorable to the accused-evidence that goes towards negating a defendant's guilt, that would reduce a potential sentence, or evidence going to the credibility of a witness.
Misconduct by LE, *especially* past dishonesty, is Brady material.
Read 5 tweets
Rachel Philips Profile picture
Jun 17, 2021
Oh look OPDS trying to tell attys & public defense providers the 4.5% budget cut is no biggie b/c they'll comply w/ #orleg requirements necessary to release withheld $100 million. Just like they've addressed the issues from the 6th Amendment Center report!
oregon.gov/opds/SiteAsset…
Oh wait, OPDS *hasn't* addressed the problems outlined in the Sixth Amendment Center Report - which came out in December of 2018:
opb.org/news/article/p…
Why does this matter? The budget for the Trial Criminal Division is $186,458,931 to start July 1, 2021.
OPDS ran out of $ for the month of June 2021, so attorneys, investigators, experts are not being paid for completed work, even as they continue to work & go to trial.
Read 5 tweets
Rachel Philips Profile picture
Jun 16, 2021
🧵on how Assault II in Oregon is usually charged for perspective on the recent indictment of PPB ofc Budnick of misdemeanor Assault IV.
Media might to ask DA's office for comparable cases where a baton or rod or bat or other item was used & case was indicted as BM11 Assault II:
Assault II carries a mandatory 70 month prison sentence. If DA had charged Assault II that ofc wouldn't be able to negotiate for a dismissal via a civil compromise or setover-sentencing agreement, but with a misdemeanor Assault IV charge, a dismissal is a possible outcome.
Media should ask DAs office for comparable Assault II cases where events captured on video but no visible injuries, no hospital records but case still indicted as BM11. Media should ask DAs office for comparable Assault II cases that *weren't* captured on video & still indicted.
Read 5 tweets
Rachel Philips Profile picture
Jun 12, 2021
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.
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.
Read 13 tweets

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