ACLU OR talks homeless crisis, public defender shortage, health care access

by: Michaela Bourgeois, Ken Boddie

Posted: Aug 6, 2023 / 09:45 AM PDT

Updated: Aug 4, 2023 / 07:35 PM PDT

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – After Oregon’s 2023 legislative session saw the passage of historic bills and a Senate Republican-led walkout, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon is lauding lawmakers addressing the public defender crisis, health care and housing — but says more work needs to be done.

According to ACLU of Oregon’s policy director, Jessica Maravilla, addressing the state’s public defender crisis was a priority for the organization this year.

The legislature passed the Defense of Humanity Bill, Senate Bill 337, which appropriates about $108 million to deal with the state’s public defender shortage and shifts oversight of Oregon’s public defense agency to the executive branch.

Jessica Maravilla, policy director for the ACLU of Oregon

“Senate Bill 337 was a priority bill for the ACLU of Oregon because it is a fundamental constitutional right for every Oregonian accused of a crime regardless of if they’re rich or poor, a white person or a person of color to be represented by an attorney,” Maravilla explained.

The policy director added, “Oregon has been unable to meet this constitutional responsibility for a number of years now and one of the major reasons being is that there are not enough public defense attorneys to represent people. And this has resulted in a crisis of thousands of Oregonians accused of crimes but with no lawyer.”

While the legislature allocated the funding and oversight responsibilities to tackle the shortage, Maravilla says there’s more work to do.

“Our state’s criminal legal system costs billions of dollars every year. It does not effectively prioritize on the most serious crimes that affect the safety of our communities and it also does not do a good job of preventing crime and making sure that there is restorative justice when crimes happen,” Maravilla said.

The legislature also passed House Bill 2002, which guarantees access to abortion and transgender health care in the state. The Senate was slated to vote on the bill — along with a separate gun safety bill — when Republicans led a walkout which stalled the bill’s passage.

After bipartisan negotiations, HB 2002 passed with concessions.

“HB 2002 reflects Oregon’s continuing leadership among states and protecting freedom, equality and bodily autonomy for all Oregonians. Oregon already had strong protections for abortion and reproductive health and gender affirming care rights. But [House Bill] 2002 solidified these protections by addressing gaps and by protecting health care providers,” Maravilla said.

“During negotiations, Republicans insisted that Democrats removed state funding that was intended to support essential health care services in Oregon’s rural areas and college campuses,” Maravilla added. “One thing is to have protections, another one is to have resources, and this was truly heartbreaking for us to see the funding removed because of Republican’s insistence. However, we are committed to continuing the fight for these rights for all communities across Oregon.”

In the midst of the homeless crisis, the ACLU of Oregon supported several bills dealing affordable housing, rent caps and eviction protections.

Among the legislature’s housing achievements, Kotek recently signed a bill allocating over $80 million for rent assistance along with bills to increase housing options and prevent homelessness.

“These actions are incredibly important as the state of Oregon has some of the worst rates of homelessness in the country due to the lack of affordable housing. So, I think we accomplished a lot this session and we look forward to continuing to solve for this issue that we have at a state level of homelessness,” Maravilla said.

As the state grapples with homelessness, Maravilla says Oregon needs more affordable housing and less criminalization of camping.

“Rather than addressing the root cause of this humanitarian crisis, Portland and many other Oregon cities have resorted to criminalizing homelessness through inhumane and cruel tactics and policies. These include camping bans, sweeps and enforced mask counts and actively working against efforts to help the unhoused community survive through supplies and harm reduction,” Maravilla said.

Maravilla added, “we encourage [Portland] to pursue real solutions to homelessness which include temporary and permanent housing that is safe and accessible and providing essential supportive services include health care and job support.”