-
Kristyna Wentz-Graff/A group of public defenders from Marion County asked the Oregon Supreme Court whether trial court judges can force an attorney to take an indigent defendant’s case. The justices will have to balance the legal protections for a person charged with a crime against the ethical obligations of a public defender. -
Amanda Loman/GOP senators and state attorneys disagree on what Measure 113 does, but they agree the matter needs to be answered soon.
-
In a preliminary ruling, the Oregon Supreme Court found a state court judge erred by forcing a public defender to take a new client, over the objections of the lawyer's employer. -
The proposal would set up an hourly payment system and put public defenders on staff to bolster their ranks to represent the hundreds of people without legal representation
-
A Friday opinion by the Oregon Supreme Court offers clarity for people convicted in trials where not everyone on the jury agreed the convicted person was guilty.
-
When Kate Brown leaves office, she will have appointed every justice on the state’s highest court. She also announced other judicial appointments Wednesday.
-
The Oregon Supreme Court denied a state Department of Justice petition asking the court to intervene and throw out a lower court’s temporary restraining order blocking the law from taking effect.
-
Jessica Kampfe, who heads a public defense nonprofit in Portland, would take over a state agency that has left hundreds without attorneys
-
Stephen Singer, who until August was the executive director of the Office of Public Defense Services, says his firing violated state laws designed to protect whistleblowers and charged the head of the Oregon Supreme Court with violating her authority under state law.
-
The denial affirms a lower court decision saying the "greatest permanent value" of Oregon forests is more than just timber revenue.
-
Steve Singer had led the Office of Public Defense Services since January. Oregon Chief Justice Martha Walters wanted him out — and ensured that happened with a rejiggered commission.
-
Oregon’s public defense system is under severe strain and Chief Justice Martha Walters wrote that the “need for change is too urgent” to delay
-
“The plan I am seeking is one that proposes immediate steps that will enable [the Public Defense Services Commission] to fulfill its obligation to provide lawyers for those who have a constitutional right to representation,” Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters wrote.
-
Chief Justice Martha Walters, who leads the state’s judicial branch, asked legislative leaders and Gov. Kate Brown in a letter Tuesday to help plan a summit to find solutions for public defense and public safety.
