May 17th, 2022

What A Week   (5/17)

Intro: (Cue intro music) 

Hey everyone, welcome back to What a week! I’m your host, Olivia Lee, here to deliver your weekly dose of the news. Let’s get started!

In Local News: 

• https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/05/more-than-20-old-town-encampments-home-to-dozens-of-people-swept-in-past-few-days.html
  • Last week,  an order by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was subsequently cleared, allowing for the removal of at least 21 homeless encampments in Old Town, ranging in size from one to four city blocks, said Cody Bowman, a spokesman in Wheeler’s office. An estimated 165 tents or structures were removed, according to the city office that cleans and removes camps. Typically one to three people live in each temporary home. It is unprecedented for the city to sweep so many camps in one area within three days. Bowman said in a report quote “The (Old Town Community Association) has rightly asked for an intervention to address the high rate of murder and other crimes in Old Town. They have rightly pointed out that a high number of victims murdered or injured in Old Town have been Portlanders experiencing homelessness.” At least five people experiencing homelessness have died from homicide in Portland this year.

In-state news:

• https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-crime-lawsuits-portland-2f52f54495baf53da222f55c48eba3ed
  • This past Monday, criminal defendants in Oregon who have gone without legal representation for long periods of time amid a critical shortage of public defense attorneys filed a lawsuit that alleges the state violated their constitutional right to legal counsel and a speedy trial. The complaint, which seeks class-action status, was filed as state lawmakers and the Oregon Office of Public Defense Services struggle to address the huge shortage of public defenders statewide. The crisis has led to the dismissal of dozens of cases and left an estimated 500 defendants statewide — including several dozen in custody on serious felonies — without legal representation. Crime victims are also impacted because cases are taking longer to reach resolution, a delay that experts say extends their trauma, weakens evidence and erodes confidence in the justice system, especially among low-income and minority groups.
  •  The lawsuit specifically names Gov. Kate Brown and Stephen Singer, the recently appointed executive director of the state’s public defense agency, and asks for a court injunction ordering criminal defendants to be released if they can’t be provided with an attorney in a reasonable period of time. Oregon’s system to provide attorneys for criminal defendants who can’t afford them was underfunded and understaffed before COVID-19, but a significant slowdown in court activity during the pandemic pushed it to a breaking point. A report by the American Bar Association released in January found Oregon has 31% of the public defenders it needs. Every existing attorney would have to work more than 26 hours a day during the work week to cover the caseload, the authors said.

In National News:

• https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/making-sense-of-the-racist-mass-shooting-in-buffalo
• https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/buffalo-tops-supermarket-mass-shooting
  • Last  Saturd