Supreme Court rules against Measure 11 mandatory sentencing

From Statesman Journal, “The Oregon mandatory sentencing law approved by voters in 1994 has been ruled too harsh in some cases, opening the door to additional challenges.In a divided opinion, the Oregon Supreme Court said the law, known as Measure 11, went too far when a young woman was sentenced to more than six years in prison after her breasts rubbed against a 13-year-old boy.The ruling Thursday also applied to the case of a man given the same 75-month mandatory sentence for briefly touching the buttocks of a 13-year-old girl. In a majority opinion by Justice Thomas Balmer, the court said six years in prison for Veronica Rodriguez and Darryl Buck under Measure 11 violated the Oregon constitutional requirement that “all penalties shall be proportioned to the offense.”

Areas to comment: Does this ruling threaten Measure 11 as a whole? Should minor crimes be penalized the same as major ones? Does Measure 11 need fixing? What next?