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Oregon Court Reverses Civil Commitment without Prehearing Notice

Article • July 15, 2012

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Presence at Hearing, Civil Commitment

Oregon Court Reverses Civil Commitment without Prehearing Notice by The Oregon Court of Appeals, sitting En Banc, reversed an involuntary civil commitment order, finding that the trial court violated Oregon law by failing to provide prehearing notice. An Oregon woman, identified only by her initials, SJF, was involuntarily hospitalized on …

Oregon Courts Authorized to Correct Judgment's Factual Errors

Article • July 15, 2012

Filed under: Sentencing

Oregon Courts Authorized to Correct Judgment's Factual Errors by The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's entry of an amended judgment increasing a prisoner's sentence. ORS 138.083 authorizes Oregon courts to modify judgments and sentences "to correct any arithmetic or clerical errors or to delete or modify any …

Oregon Guard/Police Unions Sue over Healthcare Surcharges

Article • July 15, 2012

Filed under: Guards/Staff, Employee Litigation, Guard Unions

Oregon Guard/Police Unions Sue over Healthcare Surcharges by "It's basically financial extortion," declared Oregon Department of Corrections Sergeant Michael Van Patten, of a new surcharge of up to $420 a year for state employees who do not participate in Oregon's new health program. In January 2012, Oregon implemented its Health …

Oregon Jail Guard Canned for Repeated Gross Negligence

Article • July 15, 2012

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Employee Litigation

Oregon Jail Guard Canned for Repeated Gross Negligence by Luck ran out for Oregon jail guard Judith Lucke, on January 2012, when the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld her termination for "gross negligence." Lucke's six year career as a jail guard for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office was a comedy …

Oregon "Magistrate Mental Illness Hold" Invalid; Judge, Prosecutor & Defense Attorney Face Ethics Complaints

Article • July 15, 2012

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Judicial Misconduct, Civil Commitment

Oregon "Magistrate Mental Illness Hold" Invalid; Judge, Prosecutor & Defense Attorney Face Ethics Complaints by Oregon "Magistrate Mental Illness Hold" Invalid; Judge, Prosecutor & Defense Attorney Face Ethics Complaints An Oregon judge issued a permanent "magistrate mental illness hold," indefinitely committing a man, without authority to do so. Now a …

Oregon Prisoner's Legal Mail Claims Dismissed

Article • July 15, 2012

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Habeas Corpus, Mail, Legal Mail

Oregon Prisoner's Legal Mail Claims Dismissed by The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a prisoner's action, challenging the opening his legal mail outside his presence. After Oregon prisoner Jacob Barrett was transferred to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (OKSP), Oregon attorney Charles Simmons continued to represent …

Oregon RLUIPA Claim Mooted By Release; Damages Not Available Under RLUIPA

Article • July 15, 2012

Filed under: Mootness, RLUIPA, Immunity/Liability, Sovereign Immunity

Oregon RLUIPA Claim Mooted By Release; Damages Not Available Under RLUIPA by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the sovereign immunity and mootness dismissal of an Oregon prisoner's religious freedom suit. In 2004, Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) prisoner Blackie Alvarez, sued several ODOC officials in their official capacity. …

Oregon Supreme Court Overturns Ban on Harsher Sentences after Successful Appeals

Article • July 15, 2012

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Appeals, Sentencing, State Legislation

Oregon Supreme Court Overturns Ban on Harsher Sentences after Successful Appeals by The en banc Oregon Supreme Court has overturned its 43-year-old prohibition on increased punishment in criminal cases when a defendant is successful on appeal and is resentenced. Oregon law now adheres to U.S. Supreme Court precedent. In 1967 …

Coos County Sheriff's Office Contract Summary With Conmed, 2012

Publication • June 20, 2012

Filed under: CONMED

Coos County Sheriff's Office Contract Summary With Conmed, 2012

PLN v. Umatilla Co., et al., OR, Complaint, censorship, 2012

Filing • June 19, 2012

Filed under: PLN Litigation, Censorship

PLN v. Umatilla Co., et al., OR, Complaint, censorship, 2012 Case 2:12-cv-01101-SU Document 1 Filed 06/19/12 Page 1 of 30 Page ID#: 1 Katherine C. Chamberlain, OSB #042580 katherinec@mhb.com Of Attorneys for Plaintiff Prison Legal News MacDonald Hoague & Bayless 705 Second Avenue, Suite 1500 Seattle, Washington 98104-1745 (206) 622-1604 …

PLN v. Umatilla Co., et al., OR, Complaint, censorship, 2012

Brief • June 19, 2012

Filed under: Censorship

PLN v. Umatilla Co., et al., OR, Complaint, censorship, 2012 Case 2:12-cv-01101-SU Document 1 Filed 06/19/12 Page 1 of 30 Page ID#: 1 Katherine C. Chamberlain, OSB #042580 katherinec@mhb.com Of Attorneys for Plaintiff Prison Legal News MacDonald Hoague & Bayless 705 Second Avenue, Suite 1500 Seattle, Washington 98104-1745 (206) 622-1604 …

Oregon Increases Sex Offender Registration Requirements

Article • June 15, 2012 • from PLN June, 2012

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offender Registration, State Legislation

Oregon Increases Sex Offender Registration Requirements by The State of Oregon posts online, in a publicly-accessible registry, information related to around 700 “predatory” or sexually violent sex offenders. A bill introduced in the state legislature in 2011 would have increased the number of sex offenders listed online to more than …

Prison Legal News v. Columbia County, Order Granting Preliminary Injunction 2012

Filing • May 29, 2012

Filed under: Injunctions

Prison Legal News v. Columbia County, Order Granting Preliminary Injunction 2012 Case 3:12-cv-00071-SI Document 64 Filed 05/29/12 Page 1 of 26 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON PORTLAND DIVISION PRISON LEGAL NEWS, a project of the HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, Case No.: 3:12-cv-00071-SI Plaintiff, OPINION …

21-Year Veteran Oregon Jail Guard Indicted for Sexual Assault

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution

21-Year Veteran Oregon Jail Guard Indicted for Sexual Assault by On February 29, 2012, a longtime Oregon jail guard was charged with sexually abusing a female prisoner in his custody. Eddie James Miller, 59, worked twenty-one years for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office as a guard at the Inverness Jail …

Find a Mini-14 Rifle? Oregon Prison Wants it Back!

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct

Find a Mini-14 Rifle? Oregon Prison Wants it Back! by A lot of crazy things go missing in a prison and nobody ever notices. One would think, however, that someone would have immediately noticed that a semi-automatic .223-caliber Ruger Mini-14 rifle was missing from the prison's arsenal. Apparently not at …

Requiring Oregon Prisoners to File Appeals Pro Se Abused Discretion

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Attorneys, Appointment of Counsel, Appeals

Requiring Oregon Prisoners to File Appeals Pro Se Abused Discretion by The Oregon Court of Appeals held that a lower court erred when it refused to appoint substitute counsel and required two prisoners to proceed pro se in state post-conviction relief (PCR) actions. Under Oregon's Post-Conviction Hearings Act, ORS 138.510 …

Culture of Abuse Continues at Oregon Mental Hospital Despite Ongoing DOJ Investigation

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Conditions of Confinement, Staffing, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Culture of Abuse Continues at Oregon Mental Hospital Despite Ongoing DOJ Investigation by In June, 2006, the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) began investigating the Oregon State Hospital (OSH) for patient abuse and deficient care. On November 17, 2010, DOJ officials alerted the state …

Oregon Conviction for Recording Police Encounter Reversed

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Videotaping, Police

Oregon Conviction for Recording Police Encounter Reversed by The En Banc Oregon Court of Appeals reversed an Oregon man's conviction for using his cellphone to record a conversation with police during a traffic stop. On November 4, 2008, Shane Michael Neff was pulled over by Eugene, Oregon police officer Ou. …

Oregon Cop Guilty of Sexting a Minor

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Sexual Harassment, Harassment by Police, Police Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution

Oregon Cop Guilty of Sexting a Minor by On July 22, 2011, former Salem, Oregon police Officer Raul "Rico" Allen Ramirez, 36, pleaded guilty to official misconduct for sending sexual text messages to an underage female police cadet. In February 2011, the cadet emailed Ramirez, requesting to ride along with …

Oregon Cop Sexually Abuses Minor, Gets 10 Years

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Assault by Police, Police Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution

Oregon Cop Sexually Abuses Minor, Gets 10 Years by On August 16, 2011, a former Oregon police officer was sentenced to nearly ten years in prison on thirteen sex crimes. Mark Benton Ashcraft, 38, was a police officer in the small northeastern Oregon town of Athena. That ended, however, when …