Portland slips a little further away
I've heard from several readers about yesterday's order from a Multnomah County judge, barring the city from enforcing its recently adopted ban on daytime camping. The order, granting a preliminary injunction, is here. It doesn't say on what grounds the judge thinks the plaintiffs, who are homeless people, may win; they claim violations of both the state and federal constitutions.
Unless the judge changes her mind at some point, the injunction stays in place for as long as the case challenging the city camping ordinance is being litigated, which could take years. This is a stinging defeat for the army of arrogants in the city attorney's office. And alas, for the rest of us who want a decent city back.
That said, I'm not too terribly upset by the judge's ruling, because I had no confidence that the mayor and the do-nothing police bureau were going to enforce the ordinance in any way that would have made a real difference. It's sad, though, that they now have another excuse to hide behind.
As for the judge, Rima Ghandour, she's a rookie. She originally ran for the bench in 2020 and lost to Adrian Brown. Ghandour's endorsers then included Tina Kotek, Val Hoyle, Susheela Jayapal, Jessica Vega Pederson, Janelle Bynum, Tawna Sanchez, and Cameron Whitten. Quite a crew!
Although she lost her election, Judge Ghandour was appointed this past January to fill a vacancy on the court; this was done by Governor Killer Kate Brown just as the latter was leaving office. Originally a Californian, Judge Ghandour has been a member of the Oregon bar since 2002. If I'm reading the state constitution correctly (never a certainty), she will be have to run again for election next November. That could be interesting.
And I suppose this would be a good time to look at who's actually bringing the lawsuit on behalf of the city's army of tent campers. It's a nonprofit, of course, called the Oregon Law Center, one of several legal aid outfits around the state. They say they get their money as follows: "Oregon Law Center receives revenue from a variety of sources, including state court filing fees, Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA), the Lawyers’ Campaign for Equal Justice (CEJ), federal and state grants, private foundations, and attorneys’ fees."
Ed Johnson, the long-time Oregon Law Center lawyer in the Portland case, was also the plaintiffs’ lawyer in the recent Grants Pass case that extended the rule adopted by the Ninth Circuit in the notorious decision Martin v. City of Boise. That rule, which essentially creates a right under federal law to camp on the streets, may eventually get overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, but if Johnson and the Portland tent junkies prevail under the Oregon Constitution, the federal courts are highly unlikely to overule that. The Oregon Supreme Court may well have the last word, several years down the road. Does that sound good to you? It doesn't to me.
Bottom line: Things are not going to get noticeably better on the streets of Portland for a long, long time. If ever. But I knew that before yesterday's news. So did you.
In the past, Judge shopping took some lobbing skills and a deep bench of friends of the same ideology.
ReplyDeleteThe Grants Pass case had an amended decision in late July 2023, that probably doesn't support this judge's decision. Jack, you should read it, and update the link. Other Oregon cities' ordinances were adopted after the updated Grants Pass decision and probably survive under it. But you are right that the Oregon constitution could be found (somehow) to allow camping.
ReplyDeleteThe amended opinion: https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=879252661210693956&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
DeleteI don't read it the way you do. It makes a distinction between letting you have a tent and leting you have a fire. Portland wants to evict people entirely.
Meanwhile, Vega Pederson, in her ongoing crusade to save us from ourselves, is helping introduce a citywide ban on gas-powered leaf blowers to "address the health and environmental impacts on our residents and frontline workers"...https://www.kptv.com/2023/11/10/portland-is-planning-ban-gas-powered-leaf-blowers/
ReplyDeleteI mean, the darned things are really annoying so that's meaningful leadership in my book!
Thank you for calling out the terrible decisions by the terrible judges appointed to spit in the face of most Oregonians.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't people of good reason recognize you can have compassion for the homeless and work to help them find shelter, while at the same time not surrendering our public spaces to the chaos and degradation that results from letting people camp, litter, defecate and consume illegal drugs wherever they choose. The answer to the severe economic inequality in our society is not punishing the general public with public policy that deprive it of our public spaces. Spaces the vast majority pay for with their taxes.
ReplyDeleteThat makes a lot of sense, but remember this is 'crazy town'.
DeleteMet with a long time close acquaintance yesterday. Always thought he was rational and thoughtful. The topic of camping on the sidewalks came up. He began to rant that finding shelter was a priority to sanitation and cleaning the public areas. I had to change to subject.
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