Blog Posts

We at the ACLU of Oregon believe it is our duty to keep the public informed about the state of their civil liberties. The work we do at the legislature, in the courts, and in our communities is important, but there is no better defender of civil liberties and civil rights than a public that is informed and engaged.

Filter News
Advanced search

New Laws Target and Punish the Poor in Oregon

In recent years, poverty and homelessness have deepened throughout the country, and Oregon has not been immune. According to HUD, between 2014 and 2015, the number of homeless Oregonians increased nine percent, the third highest increase nationwide. In that same time, Oregon experienced the largest growth of any state in its chronically homeless population: sixty percent. Due to a severe shortage of affordable housing and the high number of residents with no place to call home, Oregon cities including Eugene and Portland have declared a housing and homelessness “state of emergency”.

July 27, 2016

The Oregon DOJ Trains Agents on How to Break the Law

After about five months of waiting, the Oregon Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released its internal human resources investigation conducted by the special assistant attorney general looking into the surveillance of people on Twitter using #BlackLivesMatter. The report is damning. It paints an abysmal picture of rampant misinformation beginning with agents and analysists and running all the way up to the deputy attorney general, and shows how one mistake in judgment can lead to dangerous consequences for the public.

April 13, 2016

DOJ's Bubble of Bias

The Criminal Justice Division is in charge of identifying and assessing threats to the public and law enforcement, but their lack of diversity and cultural competency has them utterly disconnected to reality.

The report shows that DOJ analysts and supervisors have no clue how to recognize run-of-the-mill political cartoons and commentary from things that should actually concern them.

April 13, 2016