Pawns in Criminal Justice Reform

The man found driving April Fletcher’s stolen 2013 Honda Accord had nothing to worry about when Salem, Ore., police pulled him over for a traffic stop. Brandon Nelson had no license, no insurance, no title to the car. But he had political apathy in his favor. It has been more than a year since Fletcher’s […]


Oregonian editor: Shut up, readers

American newspapers aren’t used to groveling. Before the internet gave advertisers more options, many newspapers had a monopoly on advertising – especially with the classifieds. Newspapers were cash cows. Smug cash cows. So smug they didn’t see what was coming their way. As a commenter on Twitter put it this week: “The downfall of newspapers […]


‘What if God Was One of Us?’

Thousands of Mexican girls and women have disappeared into the deserts outside Ciudad Juárez, and it’s Bill Clinton’s fault. Nobody actually says so in Isaac Gomez’s play, “La Ruta,” being staged by Portland’s Artists Repertory Theatre. But the play links the murders of thousands of girls and young women in Juárez to the North American […]


Nextdoor’s ‘Cancel Culture’

Will Darden and his posse are keeping Southwest Portland neighborhoods safe from hurtful and unhelpful thoughts. As a “lead” on Nextdoor.com, a social website where neighbors share information, Darden is doing his part to rid the world of people he considers homophobes. With more than 10 million members, registered in more than 116,000 neighborhoods in […]


Crime, Punishment and Fellowships

In his story, “The Curious Case of the Prisoners in the Wrong Cellblock,” Oregon State Penitentiary inmate Sterling Cunio reveals the fears that grip him as he tries to make a phone call from inside the prison, while keeping an eye on two suspicious inmates who show up. This is not their cellblock, and they […]


Oregon: A State Fit for Criminals

If it had been up to Oregon’s governor, Cal Coburn Brown would have awakened this morning to a brand new day. He could’ve had his morning coffee and looked forward to whatever simple pleasures were available to him. Maybe a yoga class. Listening to music. Reading a book. Watching TV. Or reliving his glory days […]


Antifa’s special brand of hate

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s progressive bona fides won’t be established until the downtown Nordstrom closes and is turned into a homeless shelter. By then he will realize that being progressive isn’t part of his job description. Nordstrom was one of the many downtown businesses – large and small – that closed Saturday because of a […]


America’s Sectarian Violence

In the seconds after the El Paso, Texas massacre was announced, how many Trump haters secretly rejoiced: Yes! Gun-loving Texans got a taste of their own politics! In a Walmart, no less! Then, reality: Oh, that’s a border town. A lot of Hispanics live there, especially immigrants who are here illegally. And Walmart – yes, […]


‘Whitey on the Moon’

Too bad Gil Scott-Heron didn’t live to see the 50th anniversary of humans landing on the moon. He could have revisited his angry song-poem from 1970 called “Whitey on the Moon,” where he seethes about all the money being spent on America’s space program, while black Americans are trapped in housing projects: A rat done […]


Shredding the Public Safety Net

Hell’s coming, but it isn’t coming for Oregon legislators. It’s coming for some unlucky, ordinary Oregonians who will encounter violence – courtesy of lawmakers who sided with criminals in the recently concluded legislative session. At least, we can still call them “criminals.” Among the laws passed this session in the Oregon legislature was one requiring […]