Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday that  a Multnomah County woman had the right to refuse to have her  mug shot taken.

Ethan Lindsey reports the ruling reverses the earlier opinions of a trial judge and appellate judge.

The previous trials found Artissa Gaines guilty of obstruction of justice. A Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy had asked her to come with him to get a mugshot. She repeatedly said no, and after 17 hours of the verbal back-and-forth, she was charged with obstruction.

Gaines’ lawyer argued obstruction requires “physical interference or obstacle” – and verbal questioning did not satisfy that requirement. The Supreme Court agreed.

Tony Green, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office, says the state isn’t worried this will lead to a rash of people refusing their mug shots.

Tony Green: “Our sense is that it’s a narrow ruling. If the officer had gone into the cell and tried to remove the person and she had resisted, then you’d have ‘physical interference or obstacle.’”

Green says the Justice Department is interested in another part of the same ruling.

The court signaled it may change the way it reads legislative statutes. In the past, justices would only look at the written statute –  in this case, they looked into legislative arguments and hearings to interpret context.