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Community Rights vs Lane Commissioners

A legislative proposal would boost rates and put some public defenders on state staff to bolster their ranks. More are sorely needed to represent hundreds of people facing criminal charges who can’t afford a lawyer.
Brian Turner
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via Flickr
A legislative proposal would boost rates and put some public defenders on state staff to bolster their ranks. More are sorely needed to represent hundreds of people facing criminal charges who can’t afford a lawyer.

If asserting our rights were simple, we would not need laws.  But a situation in Lane County demonstrates just how complicated it can be to secure rights. 

Community Rights Lane County proposes a ballot measure for a future election that would assert the rights of county citizens against corporations and non-local governments. 

A majority of Lane County Commissioners think the measure--if it passes in an election--would be thrown out in court.  So they've instructed staff to look for a legal way to pre-emptively block the measure.  Ann Kneeland is a lawyer and one of the leaders of the community rights campaign; she visits with an update on the process.  
 

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Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR since 2009. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.