An interesting legal issue came up in Municipal Court. When city prosecutors accuse someone of committing a crime, they have to give them a document called a “criminal complaint.” It’s supposed to tell them what law they broke and how they broke it. Due to the high volume of cases churning through the system, however,… Read More
What does it take to get someone civilly committed in Oregon?
Recently, in State v. S.E.R., the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned (yet another) civil commitment order. The issue before the court was whether the evidence presented at the commitment hearing had been sufficient to prove that she was “[d]angerous to self or others” within the meaning of ORS 426.005(1)(f)(A). A person is “dangerous to self”… Read More
“We have no solution”
A news story about the crisis at Oregon State Hospital, where a number of my clients are currently being “restored” to “fitness”: “WE HAVE NO SOLUTION” In this case, the above quote is from a government lawyer speaking about Oregon’s systematic violations of mentally ill people’s legal rights. But it could be the government’s rallying… Read More