With nine months still to go before the signature deadline for initiative petitions, more than 123 proposed measures already have been filed with the Secretary of State and we have been struggling to keep up with the deluge.

Filings are on a record-setting pace, but it is way too soon to predict how many measures will qualify for the November 2002 ballot. For example, while Bill Sizemore so far has filed 25 different initiatives, only three have been approved for circulation: two that would amend the state constitution to prohibit payroll deductions for public employee political activities and one that would create an Oregon income tax deduction for all payroll taxes.

This is the first initiative cycle since the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that private shopping malls and shopping centers have a constitutional right to ban petition circulators. While we opposed that decision, the silver lining is that it will almost certainly result in fewer measures qualifying for next yearâs ballot.

Of the proposed measures that would impact civil liberties, weâre putting most of our energy into defeating two measures proposed by the Oregon Citizens Alliance (OCA) and passing the Life for a Life Amendment that would replace the death penalty with a sentence of mandatory life without parole plus restitution.

This is the OCAâs rewrite of last yearâs anti-gay, anti-education initiative that Oregonians defeated in November 2000. Once again Lon Mabon has learned from his earlier mistakes and has narrowed the application of this statutory measure. We have filed a pre-election court challenge arguing that this one violates procedural constitutional requirements and should not be allowed on the ballot. This is the OCAâs fifth, statewide anti-gay and lesbian measure in 14 years. If it makes the ballot, this one will be even tougher to defeat than Measure 9.

Another one from the OCA, it would add the following language to the Oregon Bill of Rights:

"God Almighty gives Human Life. In the womb, He forms a Human Being. At the beginning of that process, it is God, not man, who establishes Human Personhood. Therefore, we the People of the state of Oregon, in humility and obedience to Natureâs God, the Lord of Heaven and earth, shall keep safe from mortal harm all innocent Human Life, acknowledging and protecting the Human Person from the moment of fertilization until natural death, so help us God."

This proposal would establish an official state religion, ban all abortions, prohibit many methods of birth control and overturn the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. On the other hand, because it would protect only "innocent Human Life," it would continue to allow the death penalty.

At this writing, the OCA cannot yet circulate this petition because Lon Mabon challenged the ballot title, thus delaying the process. Since we filed comments in favor of the Attorney Generalâs ballot title, we have intervened to make sure that our concerns are protected in the Oregon Supreme Court. We have also urged the Court to go further and hold that the measure violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and should not be certified for circulation. That decision is pending.

This is the latest version of a measure to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, plus restitution for the families of victims. In addition to helping to draft this proposed constitutional amendment, ACLU is playing a pivotal role in this campaign. The Secretary of State has already approved it for circulation.