City of Portland Keeping Us Busy
By ANDREA MEYER
A variety of civil liberties issues have been cropping up in Portland city government in the past few months. Hereās a quick synopsis:
Public Protests
We successfully lobbied the Portland City Council for changes to the
parade/sidewalk permit ordinance so that it reflects the importance of the
providing the public with the opportunity to exercise constitutionally protected
rights of assembly and expression, removes fee requirements for smaller sidewalk
gatherings (most likely to be utilized for political protests), and deletes a
$500 civil fine for failure to comply.
Portland Joint Terrorism Task Force
Over our objections, the Portland City Council renewed its Joint Terrorism Task
Force agreement with the FBI in October. We worked in a broad-based coalition,
including the Japanese American Citizens League, NAACP, League of Women Voters,
Portland Copwatch, labor unions, the religious community, and Physicians for
Social Responsibility to urge the Council to adopt adequate safeguards. We were
not successful, but finally got on the record the acknowledgement that when
Portland police officers are operating as members of the task force they serve
under FBI authority and any information they compile on individuals is
permanently retained in FBI files, despite Oregon law that requires reviewing
and purging of documents of individuals who have not engaged in criminal
activity. We will continue to monitor and press the Mayor and City Council to
maintain a police force that operates under and complies with Oregon law (see
separate story on Ashcroft Dragnet).
Sweeping Unannounced Changes to the Portland Criminal Code
In collaboration with the Oregon Law Center, the Metropolitan Public Defenders,
and a growing coalition, we are opposing some sweeping changes to the Portland
City Code that are still in the drafting stage. Purported to be
"housekeeping" measures, this 125-plus page rewrite of the criminal
code includes a new anti-loitering law, makes it unlawful to use a city bench if
such use interferes with the "publicās use and enjoyment" (and what
use does not do that?), criminalizes all probation and parole violations if they
are done on public property and makes it unlawful to disobey a police officerās
"reasonable direction" while in a park. After we announced our
opposition to and concern with the failure to provide a red-line version of the
proposed changes, the City moved the proposal off the fast track. It now appears
it may go to the Council later in the spring to allow for more public input
between now and then. Meanwhile, we will continue to work in a growing coalition
of organizations concerned about these changes. Join our E-Mail Activist Network
for action steps that you can take and help increase our presence.