Oregon’s Gideon ‘Right To Counsel’ Jailbreak

The Supreme Court’s famed Gideon decision 60 years ago guaranteeing indigent criminal defendants a right to counsel STILL hasn’t been guaranteed in Oregon resulting in the release of accused rapists, burglars & kidnappers there.

It was 2 judges from a 3-member panel of the progressive 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that finally had enough of being told by various petitioners that “more than 3,200” defendants were awaiting trial [on various charges] but couldn’t afford an attorney while the state couldn’t give them one as the Gideon ruling required. The Fox News story referred to the state powers being too cheap to hire 500 more public defenders and/or make the stipends offered to private attorney attractive enough to pick up the slack. In a 2-1 decision, the Circuit Court’s majority bluntly called Oregon’s public defense system a “Sixth Amendment (Right to a Fair Trial) Nightmare” and upheld a US District Court Judge’s earlier ruling that defendants in Oregon who have been in jail for more than 7 days must be released from custody.

Oregon’s federal public defender applauded the release of prisoners saying it, “breathes life into the 6th Amendment right to counsel, which have been an empty promise for too many presumptively innocent Oregonians charged with crimes.” The dissenting jurist criticized the majority’s take on the “crisis”, calling it so “reckless & extreme” that it was tantamount to “a judicial jailbreak” for those charged with serious felonies as well as lesser offenses. In retort, the majority reminded that Oregon could “solve the problem overnight” by paying appointed counsel a better wage. Then again, couldn't the violent accused somehow be prioritized with existing resources before issueing a blanket release ? The panel’s decision could be appealed by the Oregon Dept of Justice to the full Circuit Court.

Davd Soul