Tag Archives: Paul DeMuniz

A Mark on Judicial Majesty

There was a time – and not that long ago – when Paul DeMuniz entered a courtroom,  people stood up. Those days are gone. Now that DeMuniz is no longer chief justice of the Oregon State Supreme Court, he doesn’t command the respect he used to. Perhaps that’s appropriate. For the past two years, he […]

The Universe of What’s Possible

Frank Rizzo, tough cop and former Philadelphia mayor, coined a phrase that has become a popular myth: “A conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged the night before.” No, a liberal who’s been mugged is probably still a liberal – but with an appreciation for what it’s really like to be mugged. This is a […]

The Stats on PEW’s Credibility

Nothing exposes crime statistics like an honest rap sheet. Consider the “26 percent” of Oregon prison inmates that the PEW Center on the States has found to be “low risk” and driving up the costs of incarceration. Who exactly are these 26 percent? Considering that Oregon doesn’t incarcerate most felons, what crimes are these “low-risk” […]

Spinning the Numbers on Public Safety

When did think tanks start doing our thinking for us? Here in Oregon, Gov. John Kitzhaber and his legislative leaders have hired the Pew Center on the States to tell them what to do about public safety. The Pew Center on the States has been getting a lot of favorable publicity since it began its […]

Taking Risks With Crime

Like a burglar creeping outside a house testing the windows, Gov. John Kitzhaber has been trying to find a way to get inside the minds of Oregon voters and persuade them to stop locking up criminals. It costs too much, he says. In his corner, Kitzhaber has the Commission on Public Safety, which he created […]

Getting Squishy on Crime

June Buck, with her curly grey hair and thin, gentle voice looks and sounds like the retired Medford school teacher that she is. When she speaks, though, she pushes a lie: Oregon has failed to invest in schools. Buck spoke briefly at the second hearing of the Commission on Public Safety.  She suggested that schools […]

Same Faces, Same Problems

Gov. John Kitzhaber could have created a more credible Commission on Public Safety had he and legislative leaders randomly picked names off the state’s voter rolls. Instead, they ended up with Chief Justice Paul J. De Muniz, who most recently distinguished himself by vacating a Death Row inmate’s execution date – even though the inmate […]