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Saturday, April 02, 2011
The Astoria DUII Issue: Want To Hear What Was Actually Said At HB3025 Hearing?
I attended the 3/31/11 House Judiciary Committee public hearing on HB 3025.
Josh Marquis, along with many other district attorneys from throughout Oregon and a representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving made strong, clear and concise case arguments in favor of HB 3025.
Astoria's City Manager, City Attorney, Mayor and all the City Councilors, while speaking against HB 3025, also made a STRONG CASE IN FAVOR OF HB 3025. Their self-serving comments were repetitive, erroneous, contradictory, and embarrassing.
Councilors Warr and Roscoe made the strongest case in favor of HB 3025. Committee members seemed dumbfounded by Warr's and Roscoe's dumb-and-dumber comments. Newly elected Councilor Mellin, who ran for election on a platform to move DUII’s to circuit court, sounded like she just got off the bus from fairyland. Of course, Willis Van Dusen’s comments included the usual all-about-Willis rhetoric.
A sideshow to the City of Astoria's theatre-of-the-absurd presentation was Representative Witt's cover-his-ass denial about not having heard much about the Astoria DUII battle before the hearing.
Thanks to Representative Boone, this situation has, of course, gone beyond Marquis' problems with Astoria. It is now whether or not cities are competent to operate municipal courts. I don't see how a municipal court can handle some kinds of cases well and some badly. So, if what Marquis and "all the other DAs" say is true, the Legislature should simply do away with municipal courts and let the county DA handle all the cases. Now, of course, we actually have no idea what happens in the DA's office or in court, except what is in the paper, since on one supervises them. But, if we want to serve justice the first step is to consolidate the problems.
Listen to the hearing. DAs representing four different counties said most Muni courts do fine doing what they usually do - traffic infractions (as in all the other 4 Muni courts in Clatsop County that AREN'T in the news) The issue is that in some cases, DUIIs in Clatsop, domestic violence in Clackamas, there is clearly not either the will or horsepower to adequately prosecute those cases. That is what we ELECT DAs to do. No-one elects the Muni Court Judge or City Attorney. Listen to the legislators on the Judiciary Committee and what they had to say.
So, let's just operate our court system by law. It is now operating based on politics. We should go back to the original idea. This is a really easy thing to understand, so why do the elected lawyers not understand it?
5 comments:
I attended the 3/31/11 House Judiciary Committee public hearing on HB 3025.
Josh Marquis, along with many other district attorneys from throughout Oregon and a representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving made strong, clear and concise case arguments in favor of HB 3025.
Astoria's City Manager, City Attorney, Mayor and all the City Councilors, while speaking against HB 3025, also made a STRONG CASE IN FAVOR OF HB 3025. Their self-serving comments were repetitive, erroneous, contradictory, and embarrassing.
Councilors Warr and Roscoe made the strongest case in favor of HB 3025. Committee members seemed dumbfounded by Warr's and Roscoe's dumb-and-dumber comments. Newly elected Councilor Mellin, who ran for election on a platform to move DUII’s to circuit court, sounded like she just got off the bus from fairyland. Of course, Willis Van Dusen’s comments included the usual all-about-Willis rhetoric.
A sideshow to the City of Astoria's theatre-of-the-absurd presentation was Representative Witt's cover-his-ass denial about not having heard much about the Astoria DUII battle before the hearing.
"A sideshow to the City of Astoria's theatre-of-the-absurd"
What, were Huhtala, Lee, Rohne and Birkby there too?
Thanks to Representative Boone, this situation has, of course, gone beyond Marquis' problems with Astoria. It is now whether or not cities are competent to operate municipal courts. I don't see how a municipal court can handle some kinds of cases well and some badly. So, if what Marquis and "all the other DAs" say is true, the Legislature should simply do away with municipal courts and let the county DA handle all the cases.
Now, of course, we actually have no idea what happens in the DA's office or in court, except what is in the paper, since on one supervises them. But, if we want to serve justice the first step is to consolidate the problems.
Listen to the hearing.
DAs representing four different counties said most Muni courts do fine doing what they usually do - traffic infractions (as in all the other 4 Muni courts in Clatsop County that AREN'T in the news)
The issue is that in some cases, DUIIs in Clatsop, domestic violence in Clackamas, there is clearly not either the will or horsepower to adequately prosecute those cases.
That is what we ELECT DAs to do.
No-one elects the Muni Court Judge or City Attorney.
Listen to the legislators on the Judiciary Committee and what they had to say.
So, let's just operate our court system by law. It is now operating based on politics. We should go back to the original idea. This is a really easy thing to understand, so why do the elected lawyers not understand it?
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