IMPROVING PUBLIC SAFETY

Oregon needs to strengthen the public safety system to hold criminals responsible, support law enforcement, and respect crime victims.  

During the past 20 years, many of our political leaders have quietly weakened our capabilities to fight crime. Most of these activities are carried out in public but have not been noticed because they are done quietly.

Here is a classic example of misdirection where a bad public policy has been implemented under what seems to be a positive label: the passage of SB 48 in 2021, pushed through as a “Bail Reform Law”. The bail reform movement nationally emphasized allowing people to put security deposits as bail and eliminated bail bondsmen from the system. The old method involved someone accused of a crime paying a fee of 10% of the bail to the bail bondsman, who would then post the entire required bail. If the defendant did not show up, the bail bondsman would send a bounty hunter to track down the defendant and bring him to jail.  

On the other hand, if the defendant showed up for trial as required, the posted bail was returned to the bail bondsman – but the defendant did not get back the 10% fee he had paid the bail bondsman.  

Yet, Oregon had already reformed its bail system in the 1980s. This system worked very well and was established long before other states engaged in “Bail Reform.” So, what did SB 48 do in 2021? It changed the Oregon system to require the Chief Justice to develop a list of crimes where the presumption was that the defendant would be released without posting any security. The defendant does not even have to appear in front of a Circuit Court Judge. Instead, a “Release Officer” confirms that the defendant is eligible for release and grants release before a trial.

I call this “Catch and Release,” and it is not working.  

The legislature avoided being directly implicated in this bad policy by requiring the Chief Justice to issue the release rules under standards set by the legislature. So, it is easy to blame the courts following the orders from the legislature.  

Under the new “Catch and Release” system, there is a list of 150 felonies where a defendant can be promptly released without appearing in front of a Circuit Court Judge and without posting any bail. The crimes include auto theft, identity theft, burglary, and other so-called “property crimes.”  

The only exception to the Catch and Release system occurs when a person is charged with a very violent crime such as those covered by Measure 11, or when a person has a stream of so many prior arrests that the release must actually be evaluated.  

The solution to the bad public policy is simple: return to the system where everyone arrested of a felony or a Class A misdemeanor is held for a short time – perhaps one or two days – until the person appears in front of a Circuit Court Judge. The Circuit Court Judge should then review the charges against the defendant, review the defendant’s criminal history, and determine whether the public interest is served by allowing the defendant to be released, pending trial. In this process, the judge should also follow the constitutional mandate (adopted in 1999) and that the judge consider the safety of the victim.

A further reform involves restating the power of judges to set bail in any case where the judge deems it appropriate.  

So, the 2021 Session of the legislature – I call it the Covid Session — removed our traditional laws as to those charged with crime and limited the capability of judges to require that defendants be held pending trial. We need to correct these mistakes as we get the state back on track to protect our citizens and to hold criminals accountable.