Legislation

The ACLU of Oregon often takes positions on state, city, and county proposals that would have an impact on civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU is strictly non-partisan; we never support or oppose candidates for elective office.

Legislature

2011 Oregon Legislative Session – Civil Liberties Unscathed

July 2011 - Despite numerous proposals to undermine civil liberties during the 2011 Oregon legislative session we had a very successful session. While we had a few losses along the way, we stopped the most egregious attempts to undermine civil liberties. We are happy to report our proposal to require the government to properly preserve evidence that can be used to exonerate a person years after conviction passed unanimously in both the Senate and the House.

This was one of the shortest sessions in Oregon history. However that did not reduce the numbers of bills introduced or considered. This report covers the highlights, and in a few cases, the lowlights, of the 2011 session. With another legislative session beginning in February 2012, we expect many of the proposals that we successfully stopped will be renewed during in the short one-month session. In the past two previous “short” sessions in 2008 and 2010, important policy issues were advanced with very little debate or opportunity for us to provide meaningful input.

In the 2011 session, we tracked hundreds of legislative proposals that in most cases would have diminished civil liberties and civil rights. These proposals covered the whole gamut of our work area including free speech, search and seizure, privacy, criminal justice, reproductive rights, equal protection, public records, religious freedom, the death penalty, prisoner rights and drug reform. This report begins with a summary of the ACLU sponsored proposals and then covers the work we did by issue area.

To see how your legislator voted on civil liberties issues, download the ACLU of Oregon's 2011 Legislative Scorecard (PDF).

Read full legislative report (PDF).

CRIMINAL JUSTICE: DNA Evidence Retention (SB 731) (2011)

This session, because of the evenly divided House, it was easier to stop than to pass a bill. The ACLU nevertheless spearheaded the passage of SB 731, culminating a ten-year effort to bring added protection to the criminal justice system regarding the preservation and use of evidence containing biological material (DNA) to prove innocence.

PRIVACY: Toll Way Consumer Protections (SB266) (2011)

The ACLU proposed SB 266, which would have provided consumer privacy protections if Oregon implements toll collection for roadways. We believe it is important that prior to use of toll collection in Oregon sufficient privacy protections for consumers be put in place. These protections include allowing a person to travel on a toll road anonymously (allowing for some means of cash payment), restricting the use of any personal information collected for any other purpose other than toll collection and requiring the government to provide sufficient information to consumers about their privacy protection options and rights.

FREE SPEECH: Funeral Protests (HB 3241) (2011)

In response to the nationwide publicity surrounding the Phelps family that operates the Westboro Baptist Church and their controversial demonstrations outside the funerals of fallen service members, HB 3241 was introduced.

FREE SPEECH: Weakening Oregon’s Constitution (HJR 34) (2011)

Introduced by Rep. Andy Olson (R-Albany), HJR 34 was a constitutional amendment to add language to Article I, section 8, allowing the legislature to enact laws regulating the furnishing of sexually explicit material to minors “consistent with the U.S. Constitution.”

FREE SPEECH: Weakening Oregon's Constitution (SJR 28 & HJR 35) (2011)

The perennial attempt to weaken the Oregon Constitution’s free expression provision (Article I, section 8) to allow local governments to restrict nude dancing once again was introduced this session with constitutional amendments in both the Senate (SJR 28) and the House (HJR 35).

FREE SPEECH: Repealing Unconstitutional Free Speech Laws (HB 3323) (2011)

As noted in the article on HJR 34, the ACLU challenged portions of the 2007 laws that made it a crime to provide sexually explicit material to minors in Powell’s Books v. Kroger. Because the 9th Circuit held one law unconstitutional and a portion of another law unconstitutional, we looked for an opportunity to repeal those unconstitutional provisions.

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).

SEARCH & SEIZURE: Police Road Blocks (HJR 25) (2011)

A constitutional amendment to weaken our search and seizure provision (Article I, section 9) of the Oregon Constitution was introduced for the third session in a row. HJR 25 would have amended the constitution to authorize law enforcement to use roadblocks to stop and question individuals to detect drunk drivers without any individualized suspicion of wrongdoing.

PRIVACY: Driver License Data Harvesting (HB 2615) (2011)

In 2009, the ACLU successfully sponsored legislation (HB 2371) that restricts the swiping of the barcode on Oregon Driver Licenses (ODL) through an electronic reader. The barcodes contain significant personal information, including name, date of birth (DOB), address, height, weight, gender, driver license number, driving restrictions and donor status.