Criminal Defense News of the Week
by: Sduclos • November 20, 2012 • no comments
72% of Men Arrested in Portland in Possession of Illegal Drugs, ¼ Test Positive for Meth A new study released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy reported the above statistics, making Portland #2 for meth possession, second to Sacramento. Half of those arrested tested positive for marijuana. Gil Kerlikowske, who runs the White House Office of Drug Control Policy says, "We cannot arrest our way out of our nation's drug problem." Read the full story in the Oregonian.
NY Federal Judge Grants Class-Action Status to NY Stop-and-Frisk Plaintiffs Last week, Judge Scheindlin granted class-action status for plaintiffs suing NYPD for aggressive, often suspicion-less stop-and-frisks. The NY Times reports that 85 percent of those stopped by NYPD are African American or Hispanic. Only 10 percent lead to arrests or summons. Judge Scheindlin called the City's attitude, "cavalier."
Mothers of Sex Offenders Cope with Registration Requirements A recent CNN story describes the issues with sex offender registration from a different angle - how (some) mothers are trying to ease the burden of registration for their children by providing housing, support, and activism.
Widow Sues ODOC for Wrongful Death Tiffany Hagen is suing the Oregon DOC for the wrongful death of her husband who was serving at Snake River. Her husband was killed by his cellmate after numerous threats which were reported to DOC without response. The Oregonian describes the full story.
Surprising Primary Finish in OSC Race Leads to Critique of Electoral System Most Oregonians can't name a single OSC Justice, let alone the candidates. Most candidates avoid anything that comes close to political speech. So how are they selected? The Oregonian suggests it may come down to arbitrary judgments by the voters.
