Oregon Public Broadcasting

One of the biggest statewide races in this year's primary is the contest for Attorney General. Incumbent Hardy Myers is stepping down, and two Democrats want to replace him: State Representative Greg Macpherson, and Lewis and Clark law professor John Kroger.

This week, we're bringing you a pair of stories focusing on the candidates, and their signature issues. April Baer begins our coverage with the issue Greg Macpherson calls key.

If Greg Macpherson's elected Attorney General, he's promising to work on consumer protections and worker's rights, among  other issues. But he's emphatic:   sentencing policy has to be a priority.

Greg Macpherson: "All of our budgets, whether it's our school budget, our health care budget, our public safety budgets--all of those budgets are constrained because we're spending so much money building prisons, and more than doubling our prison population."

To understand why sentencing looms so large on the politics landscape  these days, you need to know a bit about how sentencing works.

That's a subject the inmates at the Columbia River Correctional Institution know all too well.

This is a class for inmates who are about to be released. They're learning job skills and how to rebuild relationships.  

"When I'm going into a situation and I've got a negative attitude...."

Richard, who asked that we only use his first name, is 28 years old,  and a former firefighter. He's almost finished serving time for burglary.

Richard: "When I was charged with the crime that I did,   I wanted to take a trial. My lawyers said it wouldn't be a good idea."

He says they talked him into signing a plea deal. This is  common in the criminal justice system. For one thing, public defenders are desperately overloaded with case files.  For another, most prosecutors prefer a sure conviction over the uncertainty of a trial.

Richard: "I didn't really have any kind of -- what would you say? -- trust or faith in my lawyer so I went ahead and signed."

Richard says he's sure the judge didn't really agree with the sentence, but he was stuck applying the mandatory minimum.

Starting in 1994, Oregon ended up with a lot more cases like Richard's, because of the passage of Measure 11.  It required mandatory minimums  for violent crimes like murder and rape.

Criminals were supposed to go to prison for longer, and they were supposed to stay in jail for the duration of their sentences. And that's what happened -- sort of.

Craig Prins heads the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. The governor's office asked  him to determine how Measure 11 affected the state -- and its prison budget.

First off, he says, it looks like prosecutors used the threat of longer sentences to get defendants to plead to lesser charges.  While most defendants weren't going to jail for Measure 11 offenses, per se, the increase in the prison population  was huge.

Craig Prins: "It's a 3500-bed impact rather than a 10,000-bed impact. That's a matter of hundreds of millions of dollars. So it really has had a big effect on the financial cost of Measure 11."

The legislature is in a bind. So much money has been spent on new prisons that some courts had to be shut down one day a week.

The state police budget suffered badly.   One state official  said it's as if the voters bought a house with Measure 11. But the mortgage payment is so expensive, that there's no money for home maintenance, or even furniture.

Greg Macpherson says what's needed is a multi-lateral response. 

Greg Macpherson: "I do believe we need to be more thoughtful than just a one size fits all, which is what mandatory minimums are."

He hopes the legislature will be open to changing Measure 11.

Macpherson's been around a long time in the Oregon House. If elected, he says he wants use his experience and political ties to move the agenda for sentencing moderation. And he says he'll work to make sure the state is not hampered by new and inflexible mandatory sentencing laws.

There may be at least twenty-five things standing in Macpherson's way.     Twenty-five of the thirty-six county DAs in the state have endorsed Macpherson's opponent, John Kroger. That may be because Measure 11 shifts power to the DAs and they're not inclined to give it up.

Still, there may be room for a degree of sentencing compromise.

Andy Olson: "The court has got to have some discretion."

Andy Olson is a state legislator from Albany, and a former state trooper. He's been been deeply involved in  recent sentencing discussions.

Olson's a Republican. While he shares the concerns about prison spending, he's not convinced by Macpherson's declared commitment to change.

Andy Olson: "To just adversely to come in and all of a sudden say, 'Hey, this is what we're going to do: we're gonna wave a magic wand and the courts are going to have discretion again like back prior to Measure Eleven' . You can't get there. But I do think you can have that discussion."

It's not clear if Greg Macpherson will be able to reach his goals as attorney general, but he certainly is onto a very timely issue in mandatory sentencing.

Right now, mandatory sentences apply only to the most violent crimes. This fall, Oregon voters will be asked to approve new ones  for meth dealing, identity theft, and other offenses.

Not one, but two ballot measures on the subject will ask voters to further the work of Measure 11.