Republicans reject flawed fixes to defender crisis

By Oregon House Republican Caucus,

SALEM, Ore. – Oregon’s Public Defense met on October 17^th and approved their 6-year plan to address the public defender crisis. Among their recommendations to the legislature were proposals to decriminalize drugs, reduce penalties for violent felonies, and to further limit the hours lawyers can work. In response, House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River) and Representative Kim Wallan (R-Medford) issued the following statement.

“The recommendation that we decriminalize drugs again highlights the complete lack of attention and seriousness found throughout the Commission’s 6-year proposal,” said Leader Helfrich. “Worse, they even suggest reducing penalties for assault, kidnapping, and sexual abuse. The public defender crisis allows people to escape justice for serious felonies, but allowing dangerous criminals to get off lightly is a fake fix.”

“The Commission’s plans to improve our defender crisis are insufficient, if not outright harmful,” said Rep. Wallan. “We should be listening to practitioners and allowing the private sector flexibility to hire and work freely. In the upcoming session, we need to reform SB 337 to provide more stability to the industry, and finally begin giving both victims and the innocent-accused justice in a timely fashion.”

The Commission recommended decriminalizing multiple offenses, including drug possession, criminal trespass, hit and runs, and petty theft. They also proposed reducing the severity of penalties for assault, kidnapping, robbery, and sexual abuse (Six Year Plan, pg 113-5). The House Republican caucus strongly opposes these proposals.