JIM ARNESON (ROSEBURG)
I have been a criminal defense attorney in Roseburg since 1977 and been an active member and past president of the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. I also served six years on the ACLU of Oregon board of directors from 2004-2010 and have been a member of the ACLU’s Lawyers Committee and Legislative Committee.
I am particularly interested in bringing additional criminal defense representation to the Board. So often civil liberties are a casualty of aggressive criminal prosecutions. Whether the transgression is having your home ransacked by government agents, your vehicle searched because your skin is 'too' dark or an incommunicado detention, the government's violation symbolizes the arrogance spawned by limitless authority. The ACLU, like aggressive criminal defense, can be an effective deterrent to government overreaching.
JEN DUGGER (PORTLAND)
I am the Director of the Disability Resource Center at Portland State University. I earned my M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Southeast Missouri State University (2006). Prior to arriving in Portland in 2012, I was the Director of the Office of Disability Resources at Drexel University in Philadelphia and have worked in the field of disability resources and services for more than ten years.
As a queer woman with a transgender partner, I have a deep and personal appreciation for the invaluable work done by the ACLU. I am also a native of Ferguson, Missouri and have close connections to family and friends who continue to struggle for justice in my hometown.
I am honored to have been nominated to the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Oregon and I hope you will consider entrusting me with a seat on the Board. I have always trusted and supported the ACLU in its countless missions. The organization elevates and champions the many critical civil rights and social justice issues of which I am a fierce and passionate advocate.
I would love to have the opportunity to dedicate energy and enthusiasm to the meaningful and relentless efforts of the ACLU. I feel I would be able to contribute to the organization’s ability to capitalize on issues around disability, gender, sexual orientation, and reproductive rights, while reaching a younger generation of ACLU supporters.
ALEC ESQUIVEL (PORTLAND)
I was born and raised in the Midwest, and received a B.A. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Nebraska ACLU fought for my right to complete a second-parent adoption of my son, up to the Nebraska Supreme Court. (In re Adoption of Luke. B.P. and A.E. v. State of Nebraska 263 Neb. 365 (2002)(adoption denied)). I relocated to Portland to complete my son’s adoption.
In 2009, I received a J.D. from Willamette College of Law and served as Judicial Law Clerk for the Oregon Court of Appeals for the Honorables Darleen Ortega and Lynn Nakamoto. With the assistance of Lambda Legal and Jennifer Middleton I won access to health care insurance coverage for transgender state employees.
Currently, I am a Civil Rights Specialist for the Department of Human Services and I assist with employee protected class issues. It remains an honor to give back to the ACLU and serve on the ACLU of Oregon Board. I obtained my law degree in order to advocate for civil rights. My life experience has provided many opportunities to advocate for equality. I personally work to equalize the balance of power in traditional systems plagued with inequalities.
SEAN HARTFIELD (PORTLAND)
I am a civil rights investigator for the Oregon Health Authority; I am also a civil rights attorney with a private practice which is limited to police misconduct litigation in state and federal court.
Though I love what I do, I look forward to being out of a job upon having learned that humans have learned to co-exist without hatred, prejudice, harassment and wrongful discrimination. Because I have always donated my time to assist the powerless in our communities – ranging from the elderly to migrant farm workers, and from kids who make stupid mistakes to adults with mental issues – I know that there is an unending need for civil rights advocates.
With that in mind, my motive(s) for running for the Oregon ACLU Board are admittedly somewhat selfish: I don’t have the resources to fight these fights alone. I have been overwhelmed for many years, and if I am to keep fighting these fights I need to surround myself with people who view civil rights as something more than a utopian concept. With the guidance and leadership of the Oregon ACLU, I look forward to remaining committed to the idea of civil rights today, not just tomorrow.
CARY JACKSON (PORTLAND)
I am a retired CEO and current ACLU Board member and ACLU Executive Committee/VP of Policy. Previously, I have served as the organization’s Treasurer. I was a member of the ACLU Board in the late '70s and early '80s and am a source for ACLU of Oregon institutional history. Perhaps, this becomes more important with Dave Fidanque's upcoming retirement. I also volunteer as a mentor and board member for the Rosemary Anderson High School/Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center which provides alternative school services to students not succeeding in Portland Public Schools.
Even though there have been important victories in 2014, I believe it is more important than ever to support ACLU with time and money in an era when civil liberties have been assaulted on all fronts. I am particularly concerned regarding the issues of privacy, NSA spying, abortion rights, voting rights, treatment of ethnic and racial minorities, LGBT equality, the "Patriot Act," constraints on publicly protesting and the gradual erosion with regard to access to the courts system.
MARIANA LINDSAY (PORTLAND)
I am on the staff at Portland State University's Center for Women's Leadership where I work on the creation and implementation of statewide leadership development programs for Oregon women and girls. Prior to joining the Center in 2012, I was the Associate Director at The Bus Project, an organization focused on fostering grassroots civic engagement in Oregon's next generation. I was appointed by Governor Kitzhaber in 2014 to the State of Oregon Construction Contractors Board. I received my B.A. in Political Science from Beloit College.
Our democracy is truest when every citizen has the right to use their voice, exercise their constitutional freedoms, and have access to justice. And it is only with constant vigilance that we ensure these civil liberties. I have spent my career supporting nontraditional leaders in finding their voice and using that voice to advocate for themselves and their communities. I would be honored to offer my skills, energy, and passion for justice to the ACLU of Oregon community and help protect the civil liberties and civil rights of every Oregonian.
KATHERINE MCDOWELL (PORTLAND)
In the past, I served as an ACLU of Oregon cooperating attorney, board member, Vice President of Litigation, chair of the Lawyers Committee and co-chair of the Litigation Review Committee. I am currently chair of Planned Parenthood of Columbia Willamette and will complete my term in June 2015. I am a partner in a women-owned law firm, McDowell Rackner & Gibson PC, and specialize in energy regulatory work.
After a break of almost 20 years, I am excited about returning to the ACLU of Oregon board. The current priority issues for the ACLU - privacy, racial justice and policing, and immigration - are critical to the future. I greatly appreciate the ACLU’s leadership in the ongoing struggle for social justice in our country. As a board member, I hope to help promote and sustain this important work.
BILL PATTON (PORTLAND)
I am a partner at Lane Powell PC where I practice employee benefits (ERISA) litigation and general employment law. I grew up in Salem, went to college at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and earned my JD from the George Washington University in 1997.
I have been a volunteer attorney for the ACLU, having successfully represented high school students in Pendleton and Forest Grove whose efforts to form gay-straight alliance clubs at their schools were being thwarted by administrators. In addition to having served on the Board of the ACLU of Oregon for the past three years, my other volunteer/pro bono work includes: Board Member, Cascade AIDS Project (2014-present); Equity Foundation (Board Chair, 2011); Member, Basic Rights Oregon legal advisory group; Board Member, Listen to Kids; Presenter, Oregon State Bar Convocation on Equality (2011); and Member, Lane Powell Diversity Committee.
I first became a proud card-carrying member of the ACLU when I was a teenager in Salem in the 1980s. Since then, my respect and admiration for the ACLU has grown tremendously. I want to serve of the Board of Directors for a second term because I am deeply committed to protecting our civil liberties and political freedoms, which seem to be under relentless attack. I am particularly interested in protecting the rights of LGBT people and ethnic minorities, student rights, First Amendment issues, and abolishing the death penalty. I would be honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Oregon for a second term.
NANCY ROSS (ASTORIA)
An Oregon native, residing in Astoria, I have been the director of a Portland non-profit organization, fundraising chair for three 501(c)3s, editor of a not-for-profit newspaper and charity event planner. A dedicated civil libertarian and, proudly, a member of the DeSilver Society, I am fortunate to have been invited to speak publicly throughout America regarding civil liberties, including the White House where I addressed the civil rights of public school children. I am deeply honored to be, along with my son, the first recipients of the ACLU of Oregon’s Stevie Remington award.
As a child my father, a Portland attorney, had a sticker on his briefcase that read “card carrying member of the ACLU.” I just assumed that was how everyone felt. Unfortunately, as you know, it is not. I have been an ACLU plaintiff and can speak first hand to how this country would be different without the efforts of folks like you who offer your support, and how important having volunteers and voices of reason are. I would be honored to be able to show my support at the level of Board Member and respectfully ask for your vote.
ERIN SNYDER (PORTLAND)
I am an Oregon native and an alumnus of Oregon City High School, Reed College, and Lewis and Clark’s evening law school program. I volunteered, and later worked for the ACLU of Oregon, assisting with the Litigation Program and volunteer coordination between 2002 and 2007. I am now an appellate criminal defense attorney at the Office of Public Defense Services in Salem.
I am a deep believer in the ACLU’s mission and in the organization. The ACLU does essential work safeguarding our liberty and the integrity of our democratic system of government. Its ability to attract members and resources, its commitment to nonpartisanship, and its steadfast adherence to the principles in the Bill of Rights are central to the ACLU’s continuing relevance and effectiveness. If I am elected, I promise to do my best to help maintain the ACLU's key strengths while it meets this generation’s challenges to nonprofits and civil liberties.