The December 2021 Oregon Legislative Special Session brought attention to the illegal cannabis growing in southern Oregon.

Governor Kate Brown had even sent the Oregon National Guard to assist in enforcement. Senate President Courtney and House Speaker Kotek were quick to appropriate funding to help with enforcement.

It seems Senator Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) has a hard time connecting the dots. He chaired the Senate Interim Committee On Judiciary and Ballot Measure 110 Implementation, which has introduced SB 1510.

The bill was slated for a work session, but was delayed for an amendment, which the public won’t have an opportunity to comment on.

SB 1510 prohibits a police officer from initiating a traffic stop for failure to use lights or operation without required lighting equipment, and requires the officer to inform a person of their right to refuse consent to search, which has to be documented.

An amendment will exclude implied consent to person’s breath or blood test to determine the alcoholic content if driving under the influence of intoxicants. This bill will place a damper on stopping illegal drug movement.

Recently, Oregon State Police reported a traffic violation stop in Marion County leading to the seizing of 9.9 pounds of methamphetamine, 19 suspected fentanyl pills, a digital scale, packaging materials, and drug paraphernalia. That’s enough to kill three people or about 5 people if injected or cause extreme harm to nine people smoking it. Troopers also located and seized a loaded Beretta 9mm handgun, with armor-piercing ammunition, which was concealed under the driver’s seat. The driver, identified as Enrique Santos Gamboa-Martinez, age 19, from, Tehachapi, California was arrested and lodged on Federal Drug and Weapons charges. If he had been told his right to refuse a search, where would these drugs be now?

Even a vehicle operating without any headlights or brake lights after dark is a safety hazard. Generally other traffic will alert the driver, but lack of response may indicate the driver has issues. The issues may be health related. A friendly stop may determine help is needed. SB 1510 doesn’t make anyone feel safer except criminal elements.

SB 1510 also moves $10 million from Oregon Criminal Justice Commission for a Transforming Justice Initiative to support the Northwest Health Foundation Fund II for the "Justice Reinvestment Equity Program," to use as subgrants and technical assistance for culturally specific organizations and culturally responsive service providers.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The purpose of the Justice Reinvestment Equity Program is to promote racial equity, reduce racial disparities, reduce recidivism and decrease a county’s utilization of imprisonment in a Department of Corrections institution, all while protecting public safety and holding offenders accountable.

The Northwest Health Foundation home page expresses their vision for restoring voting rights is “eliminating laws rooted in white supremacy." “To achieve equity, our foundation gives our time, money and other resources to those who are furthest from power but closest to solutions.”

This organization is expected to go outside of its mission and experience, but SB 1510 covers that by appropriating $200,000 to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission to monitor the program and convene a stakeholder group for evaluation. It also modifies the commission’s priorities to give culturally specific organizations and culturally responsive service top priority.

This legislation moves Oregon away from democracy, decreases public safety, and the most-impacted are the very citizens these initiatives purport to serve.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-02-08 12:14:48

Last Update: 2022-02-08 12:27:20