Four years on
Some people are still reflecting on the unspeakable horror that unfolded in Bend last week: an elementary school shooting that took innocent lives. But most people have moved on already. We're utterly numb to this now. As to so many terrible things these days.
For me, through the emotional scar tissue, there's one thought still burning. Nearly four years ago, Oregonians passed a gun control ballot measure. Where the hell is it? Tied up in the state court system, which as always is moving at an obscenely snail-like pace.
The case was argued in the state Supreme Court on November 6, 2025. That is 347 days ago.
The court could have taken the case on an expedited basis in 2023. The court could have issued a ruling within a short time after the argument last year. But it didn't do either of those things.
Oregon needs a constitutional amendment setting an absolute deadline for resolution of all issues dealing with the legality of ballot measures once they have passed. Something like 90 days, not 1,500. The judges can take their sweet time writing their opinions, but they ought to render a judgment promptly.
The current situation is not justice. It is a disgrace.
I know, a timely court decision would not have prevented the Bend slaughter. But now's a good time to think about why, when citizens do the only thing in their power to try to make a bad situation better, the system has better things to spend its time on.
Thank you so much for the post, and bringing-up the ballot measure that I'd apparently eventually forgotten about, geez...
ReplyDeleteIs it mostly politics, why the justices are dragging their feet on a final decision - maybe waiting til the election's over-??
My niece has a tender-age child in a different Bend school.
I feel like I'm now part of some ghoulish club, after enduring the few minutes it took to find what school she goes to & seeing it's a different one (the immense relief, and then the immense guilt that my relief came from knowing it was somebody-else's child).
I'd also like our attention to turn towards children with mental health issues. The "crazy homeless people" in our downtowns didn't get that way overnight. The schools can't do it all, and even when parents try to get their kid help, ongoing mental health care isn't always available.
If a kid isn't stabilized by the time they're a teen, they can end up being one of those people living on a sidewalk downtown. Or worse.
A teacher acquaintance tells me that mental health issues among adolescents aren’t getting the attention it needs. It seemed that most attempts at solutions involve prescription medications. In my opinion, that’s just kicking the can down the road.
ReplyDelete