Police Practices

"If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."
-- Louis Brandeis,
U.S. Supreme Court Justice,
Olmstead v. United States (1928)

Police have the vital and difficult job of protecting public safety. Performing this job effectively does not require sacrificing civil liberties or civil rights. All Oregon police agencies, from the state patrol to city police forces, need to respect the rights of individuals while enforcing the law. And when misconduct occurs, there must be policies and mechanisms for holding police accountable for their actions.

ACLU is also working to eliminate racial and ethnic profiling in police practices that have a disproportionate impact on individuals merely because of their race, color, national origin or religion.

For more information on your rights when stopped by the police, please feel free to download our Your Rights in Oregon card (under Related Documents).

Litigation

Moss v. Secret Service

ACLU Lawsuit Challenges Secret Service, Local Police Case Tied to 2004 Anti-Bush Demonstration

April 11, 2012 - In 2004, local police in Jacksonville, Oregon, at the direction of the U.S. Secret Service, violently broke up an anti-Bush picket line of about 300 peaceful demonstrators. At the same time the police allowed a group of pro-Bush demonstrators to remain in the same area undisturbed. As a result, the ACLU of Oregon filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Secret Service and local police agencies, seeking damages and an injunction against such governmental abuse in the future.

The government has been trying to have the case thrown out for several years, even before we can get to the merits of what happened that day. The latest attempt to have our clients’ claims dismissed is the subject of the second ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in this case.

On Monday, the court found that we have stated a claim against the Secret Service for violating our clients’ First Amendment rights by treating them differently than the pro-Bush demonstrators and that the Secret Service can be sued for their actions because they should have known their actions were unlawful.

Hadland v. City of Sweet Home

ACLU Challenges Impoundment of Man's SUV for Someone Else's Driving

July 13, 2009 - The ACLU is representing Wayne Hadland in his suit against the City of Sweet Home to get relief from the improper impoundment of his vehicle.

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Legislation

It’s Time to End Eugene’s Exclusion Zone

February 29, 2112 - UPDATE: This week the Eugene City Council voted to extend their downtown exclusion zone for another seven months. ACLU of Oregon has opposed this program since it was first established in 2008. (See our briefing paper below to learn more.) This is the second time this ordinance has been renewed and although we are disappointed with the extension we recognize that it might have been worse – there were enough votes on the city council to extend it for two years or even make it permanent.

SEARCH & SEIZURE: Police Roadblocks (HB 3133) (2011)

HB 3133, the statutory companion to HJR 25 was intended to place uniform statutory requirements if law enforcement were to use roadblocks (assuming HJR 25 passed).

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Other

Request a Know Your Rights Workshop

Are you confident in asserting your right

Final Portland Reports on JTTF Greatly Improved, But…

February 29, 2012 – Significantly modified reports on the City of Portland’s relationship with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) were approved by the City Council after the ACLU’s testified they were greatly improved, but still lacked data that would permit the public to independently confirm that Oregon law and the Constitution are being honored by the City.

Last week, the ACLU had issued a detailed analysis that strongly criticized the original draft reports issued February 13 by Police Chief Mike Reese and Mayor Sam Adams. In prepared testimony today, ACLU of Oregon Executive Director David Fidanque detailed the specific improvements in the final reports, which will be made annually to the City Council in the future.

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