On Thursday, an Oregon judge ruled that agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not make <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/10/immigrant-rights-groups-will-ask-for-new-rule-banning-ice-arrests-in-oregon-courthouses.html">arrests inside or in the close vicinity</a> of Oregon’s state courthouses unless the agents got a warrant from a judge.
Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters wrote in a news release, according to <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/11/us-immigration-agents-are-now-prohibited-from-making-arrests-at-oregons-courthouses-without-a-judges-permission.html">Oregon Live</a>:
<blockquote>Adopting this rule protects the integrity of the state judicial process and will allow state courts to fully hold accountable people accused of a crime. Arrests in courthouses have interfered with judicial proceedings and removed criminal defendants before they have been sentenced or completed their sentences. We are adopting this rule to maintain the integrity of our courts and provide access to justice – not to advance or oppose any political or policy agenda.</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailyastorian.com/news/local/state-supreme-court-restricts-ice-at-courthouses/article_24273768-0745-11ea-b906-db9639ebe61d.html">The Astorian</a> reported that Tanya Roman, a spokeswoman for ICE, fired back in a statement:
<blockquote>ICE ERO officers have been provided broad at-large arrest authority by Congress and may lawfully arrest removable aliens in courthouses, which is often necessitated by local policies that prevent law enforcement from cooperating with ICE efforts to arrange for safe and orderly transfer of custody in the setting of a state or county prison or jail and put political rhetoric before public safety.
It is ironic that elected officials want to see policies in place to keep ICE out of courthouses, while caring little for laws enacted by Congress to keep criminal aliens out of our country. Despite any attempts to prevent ICE officers from doing their jobs, ICE will continue to carry out its mission to uphold public safety and enforce immigration law, and consider carefully whether to refer those who obstruct our lawful enforcement efforts for criminal prosecution.</blockquote>
Katherine McDowell, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, claimed, “Legal observers have repeatedly witnessed ICE officers profile, stalk and violently arrest community members in Oregon courthouses. The courthouse rule stops these frightening practices and ensures that everyone can seek justice in our courts.”
As Daniel Horowitz noted in <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/oregon-judge-says-ice-cant-arrest-criminal-aliens-courthouses-ice-reminds-whos-charge/">Conservative Review</a>:
<blockquote>By definition, when ICE grabs illegal alien criminals at courthouses, there is no involvement of state officials. ICE is no longer asking state officials to get involved in immigration at all or even hold the alien for them. Yet Oregon’s liberal state officials want to prohibit the feds from doing one of the core federal jobs.
What will ultimately happen is that more recidivist criminals of foreign countries are going to remain in the communities where local law enforcement police on daily basis. So what began as an argument to preserve resources of local law enforcement will now end with local law enforcement needlessly having to deal with other countries’ criminals constantly reoffending along with American ones.
In July, <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/oregon-sanctuaries-force-ice-apprehend-alleged-child-sex-offender-courthouse/">ICE was forced to arrest</a> Fabian Alberto Zamora-Rodriguez, an illegal alien charged with multiple child sex offenses, at a courthouse in Astoria, Oregon, because local police would not cooperate. The courthouse was the last line of defense between ensuring that other countries’ sex offenders are removed and having a dangerous child predator released back into the community.</blockquote>
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&nbsp;
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US-IMMIGRATION-ICE

Oregon Chief Justice Goes To War With ICE. ICE Fires Back.

Enforcement (ICE)

Oregon

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

On Saturday morning, a far-left armed Antifa terrorist was shot dead by police during an attack on an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington.
The terrorist, whom The Daily Wire will not name, was lionized and celebrated by Antifa and high profile left-wingers, such as racial activist Shaun King. On Wednesday, Antifa members also reportedly held a memorial for their “fallen comrade.”
An “Occupy ICE” Twitter account tweeted out the memorial information on Monday regarding a service set for Wednesday, as first <a href="https://bluntforcetruth.com/news/shock-portland-antifa-holds-memorial-for-ice-firebomb-terrorist/">highlighted</a> by Big League Politics.
“Stand with us to honor our fallen comrade, [name], this Wednesday, 8:30pm,” the tweet said, adding the address of an ICE facility in Portland.
“Seattle Antifa Action has posted a eulogy &amp; the ICE firebomber&#8217;s alleged manifesto on its Facebook page that was sent to friends before the attack,” journalist Andy Ngo reported on Sunday, posting a screenshot of the Facebook post in question. “In it, he allegedly wrote: ‘I am antifa, I stand with comrades around the world,’” he added.
“When our good friend and comrade [name] took a stand against the fascist detention center in Tacoma, he became a martyr who gave his life to the struggle against fascism,” Seattle Antifascist Action&#8217;s post said. “He was kind and deeply loved by many communities; we cannot let his death go unanswered. Throughout history we idolize figures like John Brown for their courage to take the ultimate stand against oppression, and today we stand strong in our support for yet another martyr in the struggle against fascism.”
“May his death serve as a call to protest and direct action,” the post concluded.
Ngo also noted that CNN recently ran a documentary about the Antifa militia that the attacker belonged to; the terrorist is actually shown about four seconds into the doc’s promo.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49531/blms-shaun-king-quietly-deletes-outrageous-tweets-amanda-prestigiacomo">reported</a> by The Daily Wire earlier this week, King, a Black Lives Matter leader, celebrated the attacker as a “martyr” and encouraged future attacks on ICE in tweets he would later quietly delete.
“[Name] just became the first martyr attempting to liberate imprisoned refugees from a for-profit detention center in Tacoma, Washington,” posted King in his first now-<a href="https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1150762544233140225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">deleted</a> tweet. “His hero was John Brown – the white abolitionist who led the raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. This is what our country has come to.”
“We are told that this is the final letter of [name] – who was shot and killed by law enforcement as he attempted an attack on a for-profit refugee detention center in Tacoma, Washington,” King wrote. “It’s a beautiful, painful, devastating letter.”
“His actions will be called terrorism,” King said of the terrorist, “and people will call him crazy, but neither are true. His mind was very clear. He is now ‘arm in arm with John Brown.’ These camps must be shut down.”
The Department of Homeland Security classified left-wing Antifa as “domestic terrorists,” POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/01/antifa-charlottesville-violence-fbi-242235">reported</a> in 2017:
<blockquote>Federal authorities have been warning state and local officials since early 2016 that leftist extremists known as &#8220;antifa&#8221; had become increasingly confrontational and dangerous, so much so that the Department of Homeland Security formally classified their activities as &#8220;domestic terrorist violence,&#8221; according to interviews and confidential law enforcement documents obtained by POLITICO. </blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49029/watch-elderly-man-beaten-crowbar-another-has-head-amanda-prestigiacomo">WATCH: Elderly Man Beaten With Crowbar, Another Has Head Split Open By Antifa While Trying To Help &#8216;Gay Man In Sundress&#8217;</a>

Far-Left Activists Celebrate, Hold Memorial For ‘Fallen Comrade’ Who Attacked An ICE Facility

Antifa

Crime

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Seattle

Shaun King

Violence

Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation on Monday requiring Holocaust education to be included as part of the state’s public school curriculum.
“Now more than ever we must empower our children with knowledge so together we can stomp out the growing hate in our country,” Brown wrote <a href="mailto:https://twitter.com/OregonGovBrown/status/1150862625334411264" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">on Twitter</a>. “Proud to sign the Holocaust education bill today, mandating Oregon schools to teach our kids about genocide so this history is never forgotten or ignored.”
Oregon’s <a href="mailto:https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB664" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Senate Bill 664</a> was inspired by Alter Wiener, a Holocaust survivor who spent three years in Nazi concentration camps, reported <a href="mailto:https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/07/oregon-passes-law-requiring-schools-to-teach-the-holocaust.html%3Futm_campaign=theoregonian_sf%26utm_medium=social%26utm_source=facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oregon Live</a>. Wiener was well-known locally for his lectures on the Holocaust, as well as for his published autobiography “<a href="mailto:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/827895.From_a_Name_to_a_Number" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">From a Name to a Number</a>,” but was killed in December 2018 after he was struck by a car.
Claire Sarnowski, a 13-year-old Oregon resident at the time, introduced the bill to state legislators as an homage to Wiener, whom she befriended after she heard him speak about his experience in the Nazi concentration camps.
“Alter’s dream was to mandate education which would continue the legacy of the Holocaust and genocides,” Sarnowski said during her <a href="mailto:https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/housedemocrats/Documents/PRESS%20RELEASE%20Holocaust%20Education" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">public testimony</a>. “Although he is not here with me today, he prepared me to carry on this mission and to persevere in making this a reality … we need to ensure these atrocities are never forgotten nor ignored.”
Beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year, SB 664 mandates that Oregon public schools teach lessons explaining “how the Holocaust contributed to the need for the term ‘genocide’” and to “develop students’ respect for cultural diversity.”
After Brown signed the bill, Oregon became the eleventh state to require Holocaust education in schools, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The legislation comes amid a historic rise in hate crimes against Jewish communities in America. There were <a href="mailto:https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/anti-semitic-incidents-remained-at-near-historic-levels-in-2018-assaults" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nearly 1,900 recorded attacks</a> against Jews and Jewish institutions in 2018, making it the third-highest year on record since the ADL began tracking anti-Semitic attacks in the 1970s.
A study conducted by the <a href="mailto:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/04/12/two-thirds-of-millennials-dont-know-what-auschwitz-is-according-to-study-of-fading-holocaust-knowledge/%3Futm_term=.30a3327435a0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany</a> in April 2018 found that two-thirds of American millennials were unable to identify the word &#8220;Auschwitz&#8221; – 41% of total respondents were unable to identify it as a concentration camp or extermination camp.
The same study found that 22% of American millennials either had not heard of the Holocaust or were unsure if they had heard of it.
“Learning about genocide teaches students the ramification that comes with prejudice of any kind in society,” Sarnowski said.
Coincidentally, the Department of Justice convened on Monday to host a summit on combating anti-Semitism.
“Of course, it is one thing for the nation to pull together in condemning anti-Semitism when confronted by front-page stories about horrific shootings, as in Pittsburgh and Poway,” Attorney General William Barr said <a href="mailto:https://www.dailywire.com/news/49511/watch-ag-barr-fiercely-condemns-anti-semitism-molly-prince" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">during the summit</a>. “But far too often Jews and Jewish communities in America suffer outside the spotlight.”

Oregon Signs New Holocaust Education Law After Death Of Auschwitz Survivor

Anti-Semitism

Holocaust

On Saturday, Andy Ngo, an editor for Quillette who is openly gay and has been critical of Antifa in the past, was brutally attacked by masked Antifa thugs, who punched him in the face, kicked him, doused him with &#8220;milkshakes&#8221; filled with wet cement, and stole his GoPro — an assault perpetrated in the middle of a protest march in broad daylight and caught on video. Ngo was later taken to the hospital &#8220;as a result of a brain bleed,&#8221; according to his lawyer Harmeet K. Dhillon.
In response, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin started a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/protect-andy-ngo-fund">GoFundMe</a> account to support him. The account has rapidly surpassed its financial goal.
&#8220;Lovers of liberty and supporters of independent media,&#8221; Malkin&#8217;s page for Ngo begins. &#8220;My friend, Portland, Oregon-based journalist Andy Ngo, was beaten and robbed today by Antifa while covering the latest paroxysms of left-wing violence. Andy has been singled out, doxxed, and targeted by SJW thugs while police stand by and do nothing.&#8221;
&#8220;I said during my CPAC speech earlier this year that we need to stand with those reporting and fighting on the front lines. Andy is one of the intrepid journalists doing the job no one else will do,&#8221; writes Malkin. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been in touch with him and he has given me the green light to create this fund. All funds will help him continue his invaluable work. We need him back in action ASAP. And if you work in law enforcement or private security, please contact me directly to help form an effective security plan to keep Andy safe.&#8221;
Malkin includes video of the alarming assault as well as the video Ngo posted immediately afterward:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">First skirmish I’ve seen. Didn’t see how this started, but <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MrAndyNgo</a> got roughed up. <a href="https://t.co/hDkfQchRhG">pic.twitter.com/hDkfQchRhG</a>
— Jim Ryan (@Jimryan015) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jimryan015/status/1145067852375851008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><a href="https://t.co/B8Gh4KQxFS">https://t.co/B8Gh4KQxFS</a>
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1145068311048101888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
The account has a stated goal of $50,000, which it has more than doubled. As of Monday morning, the account has amassed over $137,000 in donations from over 4,000 donors.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49021/three-arrests-made-after-violent-antifa-riots-amanda-prestigiacomo">The Daily Wire</a> reported Sunday, at least three Antifa protesters have been arrested following the violent demonstration. &#8220;It’s unclear, however, if any of the arrests were made in connection with the attack on Mr. Ngo,&#8221; noted Daily Wire&#8217;s Amanda Prestigiacomo. <a href="http://www.kptv.com/news/protesters-march-in-downtown-portland-police-seek-information-on-assaults/article_d3f35428-9aa9-11e9-b5de-0fd89e448b1c.html">Fox 12 Oregon</a> provides details on the charges against the three protesters, two males and one female, all in their early 20s: One was arrested on second-degree assault and assault on a public safety officer, another for harassment, and the third for second-degree disorderly conduct and harassment.
Ngo&#8217;s lawyer posted a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49028/lawyer-journalist-beaten-during-portland-riot-amanda-prestigiacomo">statement</a> early Monday directed at the thugs involved in the attack announcing that she is going to sue them &#8220;into oblivion.&#8221;
Along with Malkin and the 4,000+ donors to his GoFundMe page, Ngo has gained the support of U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/49026/us-ambassador-gives-health-update-journalist-amanda-prestigiacomo">demanded</a> on social media that the Justice Department investigate the attack. &#8220;This was a pre-meditated attack on someone because intolerant radicals don’t like that Andy happens to be gay, Asian and conservative,&#8221; wrote Grenell. &#8220;They targeted him publicly before their protest. Mayor @tedwheeler knew this was coming. The people of Oregon must speak up today.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49026/us-ambassador-gives-health-update-journalist-amanda-prestigiacomo">US Ambassador Gives Health Update On Journalist Attack By Antifa, Demands Justice Dept. Investigate</a>

UPDATE: GoFundMe Account For Journalist Brutalized By Antifa Thugs Blows Past Goal

Andy Ngo

Michelle Malkin

After the U.S. Supreme Court recently <a href="https://firstliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Release_Klein_GVR_FNL.pdf">tossed out</a> a lower court&#8217;s decision against our clients <a href="https://firstliberty.org/cases/kleins/#simple1">Aaron and Melissa Klein</a> &#8212; who had been penalized $135,000 by Oregon bureaucrats for refusing to bake a cake with a message that violated their sincerely held religious convictions &#8212; one question predominates: Why didn&#8217;t the justices just decide the issue?
It&#8217;s a fair question and one to which only nine Americans truly know the answer &#8212; and they&#8217;re not telling. But, we can hazard a guess: State-sanctioned hostility to religion keeps getting in the way.
It helps if you understand what the justices actually did this week. The remedy they employed is called &#8220;GVR,&#8221; short for &#8220;grant, vacate, and remand.&#8221; That&#8217;s a victory &#8212; not just for Aaron and Melissa, but for religious liberty in general. It takes a majority of the Court &#8212; at least five justices &#8212; to vote in favor of this remedy. Thus, the Court granted the Kleins&#8217; appeal. In other words, the Kleins were entitled to at least some relief by the Court.
But there is more. The justices also vacated the decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Exactly what the justices disagreed with in that opinion (if anything), is unknown, but five justices said that it must be vacated.
It is in the remand that we get the clearest picture of the justices&#8217; thinking. The Court sent the matter back to the Oregon Court of Appeals with instructions that the lower court apply last year&#8217;s decision, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
That case stood for two basic propositions that we now understand extend well beyond the scope of Jack Phillips, the now-famous cakeshop owner at issue in the litigation. Masterpiece requires, first, that those like Jack, Aaron, Melissa, and others who are accused of discrimination are guaranteed a fair process. There is to be no prejudging of their case and no state bias against religion.
That should be assumed in our democracy; the accused deserve their day in court. Yet, the administrative proceedings that dominate these questions are often anything but fair. In Aaron and Melissa&#8217;s case, the commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), said that his goal was that Aaron and Melissa be &#8220;rehabilitated.&#8221; Only the guilty are in need of rehabilitation. That&#8217;s unfair and a type of hostility toward religion that we can safely assume the U.S. Supreme Court repudiated in Masterpiece.
More than procedural fairness, Justice Anthony Kennedy&#8217;s Masterpiece opinion also insists that state officials show tolerance and respect for the religious beliefs of those accused of discrimination. Specifically, the Court in Masterpiece held that state officials who show hostility to the religious beliefs of those appearing in administrative hearings before them violate the U.S. Constitution.
As Justice Kennedy explained, quoting prior precedent, &#8220;The Free Exercise Clause bars even &#8216;subtle departures from neutrality&#8217; on matters of religion.&#8221; In Masterpiece, the commissioners compared Jack Phillips to the Nazis and more. For Aaron and Melissa, BOLI imposed one of the largest penalties ever issued by the agency &#8212; $135,000. And that was for &#8220;emotional damages.&#8221;
But that&#8217;s not all. The BOLI commissioner imposed a gag order &#8212; something the First Amendment generally abhors &#8212; on Aaron and Melissa. According to the Oregon government, not only were the Kleins in need of the rehabilitation of their religious beliefs and penalized the cost of a new home in many American communities, they could not even discuss their situation in public.
In short, Aaron and Melissa were not afforded a fair process and the State of Oregon was hostile to their religious beliefs. So why didn&#8217;t the justices just decide the case and bring closure to their situation?
I think the answer might be a question of triage. The Court cannot get to the more consequential legal question until the bleeding stops. Here, the &#8220;bleeding&#8221; stems from state officials who deny a fair process to the accused and show contempt, as opposed to tolerance and neutrality, toward their religious beliefs.
As Justice Kennedy wrote, &#8220;It hardly requires restating that government has no role in deciding or even suggesting whether the religious ground for Phillips&#8217; conscience-based objection is legitimate or illegitimate.&#8221;
The Court cannot reach the greater legal question because state officials, driven by the virtue signals of a progressive social justice culture, continue to prejudge guilt and show hostility toward religion in public. Stop the bleeding and the justices might be able to diagnose and treat the disease.
Make no mistake, the disease is in urgent need of treatment. Neutrality and tolerance, especially among these civil rights commissions, have greatly degraded to where it is fashionable &#8212; if not expected &#8212; for public officials to question whether religious beliefs have any place in the public square.
That is simply wrong. As Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, concurring in Masterpiece, &#8220;The Constitution protects not just popular religious exercises from the condemnation of civil authorities. It protects them all.&#8221;

Jeremy Dys (<a href="https://twitter.com/jeremydys">@JeremyDys</a>) is Deputy General Counsel for First Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all Americans. Read more at <a href="https://firstliberty.org">FirstLiberty.org</a>.

DYS: Religious Liberty Is Slowly On The Mend At SCOTUS

Constitution

First Amendment

Lawsuit

LGBT

Religion

Supreme Court

On April 9, the Oregon state Senate voted 17-12 to pass legislation (<a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB870/Enrolled">SB 870</a>) to join the National Popular Vote (NPV) compact. On Wednesday, the state House of Representatives voted 37-22 in favor of the legislation.
The bill is now headed to the desk of Democratic Governor Kate Brown. Nikki Fisher, the governor&#8217;s deputy press secretary, told <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oregon-national-popular-vote-bill-to-governor_n_5cf84d90e4b0e63eda953f43">HuffPost</a>: &#8220;The Governor has always believed that every vote matters and supported National Popular Vote since 2009 as Secretary of State.&#8221;
In a 2009 <a href="https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/sites/default/files/archive/OR-Brown-SOS-Support-Letter-2009-2-20.pdf">letter</a> signaling her support for the NPV legislation, then-Secretary of State Brown wrote about the impact of the 2008 Democratic primary election, and how &#8220;when voters believe that their vote affects the outcome of an election, or moreover, when they feel their vote matters,&#8221; engagement increases.
The <a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB870/Enrolled">text</a> of the legislation reads in part:
<blockquote>
Prior to the time set by law for the meeting and voting by the presidential electors, the chief election official of each member state shall determine the number of votes for each presidential slate in each State of the United States and in the District of Columbia in which votes have been cast in a statewide popular election and shall add such votes together to produce a &#8220;national popular vote total&#8221; for each presidential slate.
The chief election official of each member state shall designate the presidential slate with the largest national popular vote total as the &#8220;national popular vote winner.&#8221;
The presidential elector certifying official of each member state shall certify the appointment in that official&#8217;s own state of the elector slate nominated in that state in association with the national popular vote winner.
</blockquote>
In short, as described by the National Popular Vote <a href="https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation">official website</a>, the NPV is a state-by-state process that &#8220;would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.&#8221;
Currently, a candidate needs to win 270 of 538 Electoral votes in order to become president. In 48 states and D.C., the candidate who receives the most votes is awarded all of the state&#8217;s Electoral votes. Only Nebraska and Maine eschew this winner-take-all formula for a more complex distribution of Electoral votes.
California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state have all passed and signed the NPV. These states account for 189 of the nation&#8217;s 538 electoral votes.
If Oregon joins the compact, the count will stand at 196.
In order for the NPV to work, it must be passed by enough states that the electoral votes bound to the compact reaches 270. However, the movement isn&#8217;t chugging along as smoothly as many of its advocates would like. For example, on May 30, Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada <a href="https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/30/steve-sisolak-vetoes-national-popular-vote-bill/">vetoed</a> the state&#8217;s NPV legislation.
The NPV website claims that the compact is &#8220;a constitutionally conservative, state-based approach that preserves the Electoral College, state control of elections, and the power of the states to control how the President is elected.&#8221;
Others are pushing back on the idea.
In March, The Wall Street Journal editorial board published an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/targeting-the-electoral-college-11553036512&#8203;">article</a> defending the Electoral College:
<blockquote>
The founders designed the Electoral College to help ensure that states with diverse preferences could cohere under a single federal government. Anyone who thinks this concern is irrelevant today hasn&#8217;t been paying attention to the current polarization in American politics. The Electoral College helps check polarization by forcing presidential candidates to campaign in competitive states across the country, instead of spending all their time trying to motivate turnout in populous partisan strongholds.
</blockquote>
The WSJ editorial board also notes that our current system provides stability in the event of recounts. A &#8220;nationwide recount&#8221; could prove a nightmare, they write.
In the video below, Tara Ross, legal scholar and author of &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A0ZAJQK/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1">Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College</a>,&#8221; explains why the Electoral College is important, and why adopting the NPV would be a dangerous proposition:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="385" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LXnjGD7j2B0" width="720"></iframe></div>

Oregon ‘National Popular Vote’ Legislation Passes; Governor Expected To Sign

Electoral College

Progressivism

Though Republicans in the Oregon State Senate hold a super-minority status in the deep blue state, they recently managed to strong-arm the Oregon Democrats into giving up on a gun control bill that the majority party appeared to have the votes to pass.
<a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2019/05/13/senate-republicans-headed-back-to-work-sources-say-democrats-traded-away-vaccines-and-gun-safety-bill/">Willamette Week</a> reported Monday that four days after Senate Republicans staged a walkout in response to two bills they vehemently opposed &#8212; &#8220;Senate Bill 978, which strengthens gun laws and House Bill 3063, which ends non-medical exemptions for families who choose not to vaccinate their children&#8221; &#8212; Democrats caved to their demands because they were unable to achieve a quorum without GOP legislators and thus couldn&#8217;t pass a $1 billion tax bill endorsed by the governor and Senate leaders.
<a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB978">Senate Bill 978</a> would have increased the legal age to purchase a firearm to 21, implemented a strict &#8220;safe storage&#8221; law, and also banned 3D-printed firearms, <a href="https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2019/05/14/oregon-dems-drop-gun-control-bill-gop-walkout/">Bearing Arms</a> reports. The decision by Senate Democrats to drop the bill comes after Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick declared last week that the bill would go down &#8220;over my dead body.&#8221;
&#8220;Though Republicans are in the minority this session, their walkout denied Democrats the quorum needed for a vote on the $1-billion-a-year business tax package pushed by legislative leaders and Gov. Kate Brown,&#8221; <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-senate-democrats-give-up-gun-control-vaccine-bills-gop-walkout-return/">Oregon Public Broadcasting</a> reports. &#8220;Senators approved the tax plan to raise money for Oregon&#8217;s public schools by a 18-11 vote just hours after the GOP deal became public.&#8221;
Among other Democrat priorities, the deal with Republicans allows the majority party to work on their big cap and trade program intended to fight climate change, OPB explains. While Democrats are clearly steering the ship on the agenda, the Republicans&#8217; walkout is a &#8220;sizable win&#8221; for the minority party, the outlet notes.
House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson expressed frustration about the Republicans&#8217; ultimately successful stunt. &#8220;It is disappointing that the Senate Republicans walked off the job, went into hiding and held ransom legislation addressing public safety and public health,&#8221; she said in a statement Monday.
In press release Tuesday, the NRA Institute for Legislative Action cheered the Senate Republicans for playing hardball, but warned that the Oregon Democrats are playing the long game. &#8220;Last week, a pro-Second Amendment group of Senators took a stand against Senate Bill 978 by refusing to participate in floor sessions until the omnibus gun control bill was withdrawn from consideration. Yesterday, Oregon Senate Leadership reached an agreement that anti-gun legislation, which includes SB 978, will not be moving forward this year and is defeated for the session,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.nraila.org/articles/20190514/oregon-anti-gun-bills-will-not-be-moving-forward">NRA-ILA </a>announced. &#8220;While Senate Bill 978 will not be moving forward this session, anti-gun legislators have already announced they intend to reintroduce a similar version next year or potentially file a ballot initiative in 2020.&#8221;
The other shelved bill, <a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB3063">House Bill 3063</a>, would &#8220;remove [the] ability of parent[s] to decline required immunizations against restrictable diseases on behalf of child for reason other than child&#8217;s indicated medical diagnosis,&#8221; thus eliminating the potential for parents to decline immunization for philisophical or religious reasons.
It wasn&#8217;t only Democrats who lamented the demise of the vaccination bill, OPB notes; Republican Rep. Cheri Helt, a co-sponsor of the bill, said it is &#8220;disappointing that once again the loudest, most extreme voices in our politics prevailed and the sensible-center and thoughtful policy-making lost.&#8221; The bill was submitted after a dangerous outbreak of the measles in Washington.

Oregon Republicans Find Way To Get Democrats To Give Up On Gun Control Bill

Gun Control

Guns

A couple in Oregon were so terrified that someone had broken into their home while out for an afternoon walk that they called the Washington County sheriff&#8217;s office in abject terror &#8212; but it turns out they were actually being &#8220;burgled&#8221; by a robotic vacuum.
<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/roomba-burglar-bathroom-police-oregon-washington-county?utm_source=dynamic&amp;utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeed&amp;ref=bffbbuzzfeed&amp;fbclid=IwAR2TI25msEFwNvH4zFqIEpnQ3bz9VKgurSocI2_2rYN5lll6NiwxYrT4ICs">Buzzfeed news reports</a> that Washington sheriffs &#8220;responded with guns drawn&#8221; and entered the home with extreme caution following a harrowing phone call from a pair of residents who said they could hear &#8220;rustling noises&#8221; in a bathroom, and could see shadows moving from underneath the door.
&#8220;Resources were immediately deployed: three seasoned deputies &#8212; one with at least 20 years on the force &#8212; a detective who happened to be in the area, and two canine officers from Beaverton Police Department, about 7 miles outside Portland,&#8221; <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/04/10/711819433/oregon-man-called-police-about-a-burglar-armed-officers-found-a-rogue-roomba?utm_source=facebook.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=npr&amp;utm_term=nprnews&amp;utm_content=20190410&amp;fbclid=IwAR3djpjrbpWEZiYig_xiMSVLKGx5Sb606E17c7vQ6YW9t2YqWKAG1RuoG9U">NPR added</a>. &#8220;They surrounded the Cedar Hills house, then made their way inside, guns unholstered.&#8221;
Officers yelled for the offender to give himself up, but he &#8220;wouldn&#8217;t come out&#8230;he wouldn&#8217;t say anything,&#8221; and as law enforcement officials neared the suspected scene of the crime, they noticed that what was once a &#8220;rustling&#8221; was now a &#8220;banging&#8230;[l]ike a loud thud, thud, thud on glass&#8221; as if they offender were trying to escape through a window to the outside.
&#8220;With guns drawn, deputies open the door to encounter the suspect&#8230;an automated robot vacuum,&#8221; a statement from the Washington County sheriff&#8217;s office said, without irony.
It turns out the couple who called police were house-sitting for their nephew, and while they were out walking their nephew&#8217;s dog, their nephew&#8217;s Roomba robotic vacuum began its scheduled cleaning. Somehow, it managed to trap itself in the bathroom, where it gave the floor a very thorough cleaning while trying to force its way out.
Officers were reportedly relieved.
&#8220;Everyone just started cracking up. It was such huge relief because it&#8217;s the kind of situation that could go either way. It could end peacefully or &#8230;&#8221; Sgt. Danny DiPietro, a spokesman for the Washington County sheriff told NPR. &#8220;No one had any idea what was waiting for them behind the door but they definitely didn&#8217;t expect that.&#8221;
They were particularly thankful that the &#8220;offender,&#8221; who had resisted even the threat of two attacking K9 officers, turned out to be a robotic vacuum cleaner and not a hardened criminal.
As for the two people who called the cops, they told police they felt &#8220;awful.&#8221;
Law enforcement was, however, forgiving.
&#8220;I would have done the exact same thing if I was visiting someone and didn&#8217;t know there was a robot vacuum cleaner that was set to go off on its own,&#8221; DiPietro told media. &#8220;And even the responding officers, when they saw the shadow under the door and the sound of someone trying to get out &#8230; well, they fell for it too.&#8221;
When the Washington County sheriff&#8217;s office boasted of their takedown on Facebook, the vacuum puns rolled in, as fans of the law enforcement bureau applauded the officers for &#8220;cleaning up&#8221; the city and &#8220;catching the sucker.&#8221;
Roomba&#8217;s parent company, iRobot, did not comment on the matter, but this isn&#8217;t the first time a robot vacuum has been involved in a caper. Although no Roombas have eve been arrested, <a href="https://twentytwowords.com/this-is-what-happens-when-a-roomba-meets-a-dog-turd/">one unlucky vacuum in Arkansas</a> created a very stinky situation for a pet owner back in 2016.

A Man Called The Sheriffs Department In Oregon To Report A Burglar. Then This Happened.

On Tuesday, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on CNN that he didn&#8217;t lie during his congressional testimony in 2013, but that he misunderstood the question that was asked.
The Intercept&#8217;s Glen Greenwald has reported earlier in the week that the National Security Agency program revealed by Edward Snowden was finally shut down.
&#8220;The very first NSA program we revealed from Snowden documents &#8211; the mass domestic spying program of Americans&#8217; phone records, which James Clapper lied about &amp; Obama insisted was vital to national security &#8211; has been shut down,&#8221; Greenwald tweeted.
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The very first NSA program we revealed from Snowden documents &#8211; the mass domestic spying program of Americans&#8217; phone records, which James Clapper lied about &amp; Obama insisted was vital to national security &#8211; has been shut down <a href="https://t.co/H91zvOcVMk">https://t.co/H91zvOcVMk</a>
&#8212; Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href="https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1102741757035462662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The lie Greenwald was referring to was something Clapper said during his testimony in 2013. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked Clapper if the NSA collects &#8220;any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans.&#8221;
Clapper responded: &#8220;no sir. Not wittingly.&#8221;
This was clearly untrue, as Snowden&#8217;s leaked documents showed the agency had <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/06/05/nsas-verizon-spying-order-specifically-targeted-americans-not-foreigners/">collected millions of cell phone records from Verizon customers</a>, and had specifically requested the records of Americans and not the records of foreigners, according to Forbes. Clapper later apologized for his &#8220;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/07/02/national-intelligence-director-clapper-apologizes-for-clearly-erroneous-congressional-testimony-on-nsa-surveillance/#74e32b126d62">clearly erroneous</a>&#8221; testimony. Now that the program has been scrapped, CNN&#8217;s John Berman asked Clapper for a reaction to Greenwald&#8217;s claim that he lied.
Clapper defended himself by claiming he misunderstood the question back in 2013, <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/james-clapper-i-didnt-lie-to-congress-about-nsa-surveillance-i-simply-didnt-understand-the-question/">according to a clip uploaded to Mediaite</a>.
&#8220;Well, the original thought behind this, and this program was put in place as a direct result of 9/11, the point was to be able to track quickly a foreign communicant talking to somebody in this country who may have been plotting a terrorist plot and was put in place during the Bush Administration for that reason,&#8221; Clapper told Berman. &#8220;I always regarded it as kind of a safeguard or insurance policy so that if the need came up you would have this to refer to.&#8221;
Clapper continued:
<blockquote>
As far as the comment, the allegation about my lying, I didn&#8217;t lie, I made a big mistake and I just simply didn&#8217;t understand what I was being asked about. I thought of another surveillance program, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when I was being asked about Section 215 of the Patriot Act at the time, I just didn&#8217;t understand that.
</blockquote>
Wyden, the senator who asked Clapper the question back in 2013, took to Twitter to shut down Clapper&#8217;s claims.
&#8220;James Clapper needs to stop making excuses for lying to the American people about mass surveillance. To be clear: I sent him the question in advance. I asked him to correct the record afterward. He chose to let the lie stand,&#8221; Wyden tweeted.
&#8220;When intelligence leaders mislead the public about surveillance, they fuel the cynicism and mistrust of government that lets wannabe authoritarians gain power,&#8221; he added in another tweet.
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When intelligence leaders mislead the public about surveillance, they fuel the cynicism and mistrust of government that lets wannabe authoritarians gain power.
&#8212; Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1103355480498470913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Clapper also tried to defend the program from reports that it never helped capture a terrorist.
&#8220;Well, that&#8217;s true, and I think probably at the time contemporaneously back in 2013 or so when all this broke that we may have oversold it a bit because, you know, we were hard-pressed to point out to a specific case in point,&#8221; Clapper said. &#8220;What this was was just trying to capitalize on the lesson learned from 9/11. I will say that &#8212; and I&#8217;ve said this publicly many times before, that what this did prove was the need for the intelligence community to have been more transparent.&#8221;

James Clapper Claimed He Didn’t Lie, But Misunderstood A Question. Democrat Senator Destroys Him.

Glenn Greenwald

James Clapper

National Security Agency (NSA)

In yet another example of the &#8220;anti-fascist&#8221; veto used to suppress conservative speech on a college campus, an event hosted by the College Republicans at Portland State University on Tuesday was eventually shut down by a single protester continually ringing a bell. Campus authorities, who were on the scene, said their policies did not allow them to take action because the protester didn&#8217;t get violent or destroy property.
Journalist Andy Ngo, who was <a href="https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/11/independent-journalist-any-ngo-assaulted-by-antifa-mob-in-portland/">assaulted</a> by an Antifa mob in Portland in November, attended the event at Portland State Tuesday, tweeting out a series of video clips of the bell-ringing protester and noting the failure of university authorities to take any action.
The event featured blogger Michael Strickland. Strickland was there to discuss being <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/05/man_who_pointed_gun_at_dont_sh.html">sentenced</a> to 40 days in jail and banned from carrying guns after he brandished his gun, for which he had a concealed carry permit, at masked left-wing protesters who he says threateningly advanced at him during a rally. Though Strickland was allowed to carry the weapon, the judge determined that brandishing the gun when protesters surrounded him was an unnecessarily provocative act.
Ahead of the College Republican event Tuesday, one protester labeled Strickland a &#8220;violent fascist.&#8221; Those gathered to hear Strickland speak didn&#8217;t have the chance because of one guy and one rather loud bell.
&#8220;Last night, College Republicans invited conservative blogger Michael Strickland to [Portland State],&#8221; Ngo wrote in the first of a series of tweets. &#8220;Event got shut down by anarchist who came w/a bell. Strickland was to speak about his conviction related to him brandishing a gun at a mob who surrounded him at a 2016 BLM protest.&#8221;
&#8220;One anarchist antifa disruptor with a bell was able to shut down the Michael Strickland [Portland States] College Republicans speech as soon as the event began. Campus police &amp; admin were there but just stood &amp; watched. They said they couldn&#8217;t do anything about the disrupter,&#8221; he added, providing clips of video of the incident. &#8220;The person who shut down the College Republicans Portland State event then went to the front and blocked the projector so that the speaker couldn&#8217;t play a video. This continued for more than an hour while police watched.&#8221;
&#8220;Speaker attempted to give his speech to live stream but the disruptor followed &amp; continued ringing bell,&#8221; Ngo wrote. &#8220;[Portland State] has no policies in place to deal w/disruptions at student-organized events. Police will only intervene when there is violence or property destruction.&#8221;
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Last night, College Republicans invited conservative blogger Michael Strickland to <a href="https://twitter.com/Portland_State?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Portland_State</a>. Event got shut down by anarchist who came w/a bell. Strickland was to speak about his conviction related to him brandishing a gun at a mob who surrounded him at a 2016 BLM protest. <a href="https://t.co/JnHO6ElSLa">pic.twitter.com/JnHO6ElSLa</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103211662109110272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
One anarchist antifa disruptor with a bell was able to shut down the Michael Strickland <a href="https://twitter.com/Portland_State?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Portland_State</a> College Republicans speech as soon as the event began. Campus police &amp; admin were there but just stood &amp; watched. They said they couldn&#8217;t do anything about the disrupter. <a href="https://t.co/fSpuEjm8aQ">pic.twitter.com/fSpuEjm8aQ</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103215939892310016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The person who shut down the College Republicans Portland State event then went to the front and blocked the projector so that the speaker couldn&#8217;t play a video. This continued for more than an hour while police watched. <a href="https://t.co/eF3YNraWQ4">pic.twitter.com/eF3YNraWQ4</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103225742236610566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
Speaker attempted to give his speech to live stream but the disruptor followed &amp; continued ringing bell. <a href="https://twitter.com/Portland_State?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Portland_State</a> has no policies in place to deal w/disruptions at student-organized events. Police will only intervene when there is violence or property destruction. <a href="https://t.co/fgcJBPnAU7">pic.twitter.com/fgcJBPnAU7</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103228708905603073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Ngo followed those posts by noting that he was in fact at the 2016 event at which Strickland was arrested. While Ngo faulted Strickland for bringing his firearm to the volatile situation, he also underscored the real threat posted by the &#8220;angry protesters&#8221; carrying &#8220;sticks&#8221; and surrounding him.
&#8220;I have been mobbed &amp; threatened by antifa for photographing them in public so I have some understanding of what Strickland probably went through. I would not carry a weapon to a volatile political protest. Still, 10 felony convictions seems excessive,&#8221; Ngo wrote. &#8220;For the record, I was a witness to the &#8216;16 incident that blogger Strickland was convicted over. I saw angry protesters w/sticks surround &amp; move him out of the BLM protest before he brandished his pistol.&#8221;
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I have been mobbed &amp; threatened by antifa for photographing them in public so I have some understanding of what Strickland probably went through. I would not carry a weapon to a volatile political protest. Still, 10 felony convictions seems excessive. <a href="https://t.co/4J1g7GFbZ6">https://t.co/4J1g7GFbZ6</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103233969296891904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
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WATCH: Single ‘Anti-Fascist’ Protester Able To Shut Down Conservative Event As Campus Authorities ‘Stood &#038; Watched’

Conservatism

Education

Free Speech

Josh Horner, 42, was found guilty in 2017 of sexually abusing a child. He was sentenced to 50-years in prison &#8211; essentially the rest of his life &#8211; but only served 18 months after the Oregon Innocence Project looked into his case and found multiple errors, which resulted in his exoneration.
But having his conviction overturned and getting an apology from the prosecutor who tried his case isn&#8217;t enough to give Horner his life back, <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-innocence-project-exoneration-josh-horner/#.XGVMYYkDQaA.facebook">according to Oregon Public Broadcasting</a> (OPB). Horner&#8217;s friend, Gary Lynch, never doubted him, but told OPR that if he didn&#8217;t know Horner, he might believe he was guilty.
&#8220;That kind of ambiguity sticks, especially so in Horner&#8217;s case, because the charges were dismissed without prejudice. And those two little words &#8212; without prejudice &#8212; make a big legal difference,&#8221; OPB reported. This means the case can be reopened in the future if more information is found, Redmond Police Department Lt. Curtis Chambers told OPB.
Chambers also told the outlet the case would be open for decades in case the accuser decided to come forward with more information.
&#8220;It&#8217;s important to believe juvenile sex crime victims and giving them opportunity to process and ultimately disclose in the time frame that&#8217;s comfortable to them,&#8221; Chambers told OPB.
In addition, police are keeping property seized from Horner as part of the investigation, even though it was deemed unnecessary.
Horner was accused of sexually assaulting his own daughter in 2006 when she was 5. He was charged with 17 counts of &#8220;rape, sexual assault, and other sex offenses,&#8221; <a href="https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5375">according to the National Registry of Exonerations</a>. This was the same year Horner and the girl&#8217;s mother divorced, and eight years later, in 2014, Horner got engaged to another woman, whom his daughter, now 13, didn&#8217;t like. That summer, the daughter was told she would start spending every other week with her father. She didn&#8217;t want that, so she told her mother her father had sexually abused her as a child.
She also claimed Horner killed her black Labrador, Lucy, in front of her for not giving in to his sexual demands. It was this claim that ultimately helped save Horner, as he was able to prove Lucy was alive and well. He had given the dog away because it attacked a neighbor&#8217;s chickens.
The daughter&#8217;s testimony &#8220;was often disjointed, and at times she lost her composure on the witness stand or was unable to remember details of the alleged assaults,&#8221; according to the NRE. Naturally, trauma &#8220;experts&#8221; dismissed these concerns by saying this was just evidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder induced by the sexual assault. Horner&#8217;s defense argued the girl actually suffered from PTSD due to sexual abuse by her half-brother, and argued that many of the details she attributed to Horner resembled abuse from her half-sibling.
The Oregon Innocence Project reached out to Deschutes District Attorney John Hummel, who assigned an investigator to look into the case again. The Oregon Court of Appeals then reversed Horner&#8217;s conviction, after a motion was filed saying the trial judge was wrong to deny the defense the ability to offer a counter explanation for the daughter&#8217;s PTSD.
Hummel&#8217;s investigators tried to inform the daughter that the dog, Lucy, was still alive, but the girl &#8220;was uncooperative,&#8221; the NRE reported. &#8220;She failed to show up for a scheduled meeting, and then refused to talk with investigators when they tracked her down,&#8221; NRE wrote.
Hummel asked to dismiss the charges against Horner, and his motion was granted. Hummel, at the time, said he wasn&#8217;t sure this meant Horner was innocent, but he certainly was no longer sure Horner was guilty.
&#8220;Mr. Horner, on behalf of the state of Oregon, I apologize that untrue evidence was used against you in your trial,&#8221; Hummel said at the time. &#8220;That should happen to no one.&#8221;
As for Horner, who has now been out of prison for seven months, life isn&#8217;t completely back to normal. Formerly a social butterfly, Horner no longer trusts people. Before he was accused, he owned a plumbing company, but now won&#8217;t enter a stranger&#8217;s home.
&#8220;The one place he said he still feels like his old self is an industrial garage in Redmond. There, he climbed into the driver&#8217;s seat of a shiny blue race car,&#8221; OPB reported.
Horner also wants to help others who have been wrongly convicted, but ultimately just wants to move on.
&#8220;To sift through what other people might think, you know, and then hold on to that. That&#8217;s heavy damage,&#8221; Horner told OPB.

He Was Wrongfully Convicted Of Child Sexual Abuse And Released. His Life Still Isn’t Back To Normal.

Children

Sexual Abuse

The Eugene Police Department has made national headlines over the past few weeks after the fatal shooting of an armed man who was a member of a self-defense group critical of police. On Monday afternoon, the Eugene Police Department was forced to call in the bomb squad after finding explosives outside the department. Now, they&#8217;re working with the feds to try to track down the culprits.
&#8220;Police in Eugene are searching for answers after explosives were found outside their headquarters on Country Club Road late Monday afternoon,&#8221; ABC News affiliate <a href="https://www.kezi.com/content/news/Incendiary-devices-outside-Eugene-police-headquarters-deemed-safe-505032022.html">KEZI</a> reported Tuesday.
The explosives were discovered while a grounds crew was mowing the front lawn, police say. In response, the department called in the Eugene Metro Explosive Disposal Unit to defuse the explosives, which are now being examined by the forensics team.
&#8220;This is not a hoax device. This is a very serious matter,&#8221; said Lt. David Natt, KEZI reports. &#8220;Our hope is that we get some physical evidence off it and that physical evidence leads us to somebody involved in the production and/or deployment of these devices.&#8221;
The department has contacted federal authorities to help in the investigation and are gathering and reviewing video footage that might lead to suspects.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to ask our neighbors for any footage, and we&#8217;re going to review all the footage that we have,&#8221; the lieutenant explained.
As of Tuesday, police said they were unsure who had planted the bombs or if the culprits were specifically targeting anyone.
The alarming discovery comes a few days after the acquittal of the two Eugene officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man who illegally carried his weapon on a middle school campus and fired on officers after refusing to leave. The proximity of the two incidents has prompted <a href="https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2019/01/31/ieds-found-outside-eugene-police-station-following-deadly-confrontation/">speculation</a> that they might be connected, though police have offered no such evidence and have not named any suspects.
&#8220;Charles Landeros refused to leave Cascade Middle School when asked to do so by school resource officers Steve Timm and Aaron Johns on Jan. 11, according to district attorney Patty Perlow,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2019/01/eugene-police-legally-justified-in-killing-man-at-middle-school-da-says.html">Oregonian</a> reported Thursday. &#8220;Landeros struggled with them when they tried to arrest him and fired two shots at one of the officers, who then fired back and killed Landeros, the district attorney said.&#8221;
In its report on the shooting, the University of Oregon&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailyemerald.com/news/former-uo-student-and-activist-killed-in-eugene-police-shooting/article_01b00d42-16d5-11e9-9d3d-1b6fea0d22de.html?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_campaign=user-share&amp;fbclid=IwAR3AwZj0t7czFpulBbsUkjC5mHXW2Ad6Qr_VUmM867YcxgSR1YtD3Q79Pms">Daily Emerald</a> describes Landeros as a U.S. Army veteran and former UO student protest leader, who was &#8220;a member of Community Armed Self Defense, a group that was created as a &#8216;new liberatory and inclusive space for all oppressed peoples to learn about armed self-defense.'&#8221;
Last Friday, Police released <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/42933/police-release-bodycam-video-fatal-shooting-shows-james-barrett">bodycam footage</a> of the fatal encounter showing that Landeros did indeed draw his weapon and fire, prompting the officers to use fatal force.

Oregon Police Find Explosives Outside Station: &#8216;Not A Hoax Device&#8217;

Police

An Army veteran was left to die in his jail cell as police officers filmed his thrashing and made jokes about his condition.
Bryan Everett Perry, 31, died on November 4, 2016 in a Clackamas County, OR, jail cell as police watched and laughed. After videos of the officer&#8217;s disgusting comments were released earlier this month, Perry&#8217;s mother filed a lawsuit claiming &#8220;multiple civil rights violations and gross negligence,&#8221; <a href="https://www.wokv.com/news/national/video-deputies-joked-laughed-inmate-who-later-died-overdosed-jail-cell/1cdxIC7aArfBSAzRM9OKUL/amp.html?__twitter_impression=true">according to WOKV radio</a>.
&#8220;Both videos show Perry thrashing violently in the cell,&#8221; WOKV reported. &#8220;In one of the videos, Deputy Ricky Paurus is heard saying, &#8216;Look what I got for show-and-tell today.&#8217; He and other deputies are also heard joking that Perry should be put in a cage and wheeled into schools to educate students on what illicit drugs can do.&#8221;
Deputy Matrona Shadrin filmed both videos, and can be heard on one saying: &#8220;I wish we could show this to his girlfriend, like, &#8216;You love this?&#8217;&#8221; In the other video, Shadrin says: &#8220;I&#8217;m glad we took him before this kicked in.&#8221;
Sherriff Craig Roberts said Shadrin resigned before the incident was investigated.
Perry had been arrested on an outstanding warrant five hours before he died. Police claimed in their reports that he was fine when he was arrested. Video shows this was untrue and that Perry was already making involuntary movements as he was booked at 7:15 pm. His mother&#8217;s lawsuit claims he sat in his cell moaning and thrashing for more than four hours before he died.
&#8220;But I will say this: The laughter, substance and tone of several comments heard from my employees in that video were inappropriate, and do not conform to our professional standards,&#8221; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/clackcosheriff/">Sherriff Roberts said on Facebook</a>. &#8220;My office has already taken action. We conducted an internal investigation and took disciplinary action against the employees who still worked at the Sheriff&#8217;s Office.&#8221;
He did not elaborate on what discipline the other officers received.
&#8220;Compassionate treatment of those suffering from addiction and/or mental health issues is a cornerstone of our agency,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Every day, in our jail and on the streets, our deputies encounter the hazards associated with drug addiction, and we have launched numerous initiatives to counter them &#8212; including our Residential Treatment program, CIT training, Behavioral Health Unit partnership, and counseling at the Transition Center and elsewhere.&#8221;
&#8220;I expect our more than 500 employees to uphold the highest level of professionalism in their service.&#8221;
There is some discrepancy in what drugs Perry took prior to his arrest, but it appears to be some combination of meth, heroin, and bath salts.
Perry was a gunner for a U.S. Army infantry unit and fought in the Iraq war. He was injured in 2003 and &#8220;honorably discharged with the Purple Heart Medal of Honor,&#8221; <a href="http://www.anewtradition.com/obituaries/obituary/13891_Bryan_Everett_Douglas_Perry">according to his obituary</a>.
Perry&#8217;s girlfriend, Bridgette Mountsier, who was also arrested, was treated for an overdose at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center. She was taken to the hospital about an hour after her symptoms began, which was about an hour after Perry&#8217;s started.
Corizon Health nurse Jana Rackley checked Perry&#8217;s vital signs, but did not send him to the hospital. Nurse Camille Valberg began her shift at 10 pm and looked in on Perry, but didn&#8217;t enter his cell to check his vital signs for more than an hour into her post.
Lifesaving measures did not begin until 11:23 pm, after Perry went into cardiac arrest, according to his mother&#8217;s lawsuit. He was finally taken to the hospital at that time, and died 45 minutes later.
WATCH the footage of officers mocking Perry&#8217;s overdose, <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2018/10/clackamas_county_sheriff_calls.html">obtained by the Oregonian</a>, below (warning graphic video):
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l-_TzDRfwJQ" width="560"></iframe></div>

Video Shows Shocking Response Of Officers To Army Vet Overdose In Jail Cell

Drugs

An Oregon mother who sued the local school district and some of its employees, charging they interfered with her parental rights and created &#8220;a plan&#8221; to prevent her daughter, who believes she is a transgender boy, from returning to the mother&#8217;s home so that the mother&#8217;s custody could be terminated, has <a href="https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/oregon/ordce/3:2017cv00772/131694/53/0.pdf?ts=1533985786">lost her case</a> in court.
Greta Leontiev, a special education teacher in the Gresham-Barlow School District, <a href="https://pamplinmedia.com/go/360159-239838-corbett-mom-claims-teacher-plotted-to-adopt-her-transgender-son">filed the suit</a> in 2017. In the suit, Leontiev, who was divorced from her daughter&#8217;s father and had remarried, claimed a teacher convinced Leontiev&#8217;s daughter to leave her mother&#8217;s home and live with her.
According to court documents, on November 19, 2016, the daughter told her father and her sister that she felt uncomfortable living in her mother&#8217;s home and was not planning on returning home that evening. After a cast party that night, the daughter left with a teacher&#8217;s daughter. The next morning, the daughter emailed Leontiev, &#8220;You are probably wondering why I did not come home after the cast party. It&#8217;s because I am miserable at home. I do not feel like I am being supported, and I am done with contorting myself to fit an image that you have created. You and Dad both refuse to accept that I am a boy &#8230;&#8221; Leontiev responded she was going to the teacher&#8217;s home to bring her daughter back.
When Leontiev arrived at the teacher&#8217;s home, the teacher said she did not know where the daughter was but said she was safe. The teacher also filed a report with the Department of Human Services (DHS) alleging that Leontiev and her husband emotionally abused the daughter. When deputies interviewed the teacher, she stated that the daughter&#8217;s parents were &#8220;conservative Christian people, which isn&#8217;t necessarily a problem, but I know they are often not supportive of situations like this,&#8221; adding, &#8220;parents who are emotionally abusive to their children always say they are &#8216;supportive&#8217; of them.&#8221;
Later, when the daughter contacted Leontiev and said she would be attending school the next day (which was Monday), Leontiev said she would leave her belongings on the porch and asked her daughter to leave her key on the porch. On Monday, Leontiev filed a complaint with the Corbett School District Superintendent, alleging that her child was a runaway who had been harbored by a teacher and a member of the school board, thus violating Oregon educator ethics codes. A case worker who interviewed Leontiev and her husband concluded, &#8220;There is enough evidence gathered via this assessment that indicates that (the daughter) has not been emotionally abused by his parents.&#8221;
Months later, the daughter spent spring break with her father, who then filed a petition in state family court for emergency custody. Soon after that, Leontiev filed a federal lawsuit.

Christian Mother Sues School District For Allegedly Planning To Terminate Her Custody Of Transgender Son. She Loses.

Transgender

A <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Mark_Roberts_(Oregon)">candidate</a> from the Independent Party of Oregon who is challenging incumbent GOP Congressman Greg Walden for his seat in the state&#8217;s second district, decided to launch a scurrilous attack on First Lady Melania Trump on Tuesday, tweeting that she was a whore.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Did you know the First Lady works by the hour? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thinkdirty?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#thinkdirty</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hoebag?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hoebag</a>
&#8212; Mark Roberts (@RobertsforCD2) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertsforCD2/status/1023977572315451392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
Roberts even doubled down when his tweet was criticized:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Why has <a href="https://twitter.com/jack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jack</a> not taken this tweet down and suspended the account? <a href="https://t.co/NgVQLMEjDE">https://t.co/NgVQLMEjDE</a>
&#8212; Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) <a href="https://twitter.com/IngrahamAngle/status/1024151030395744257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Let the donations begin in 3 2 1.. <a href="https://t.co/LYb3obxraT">https://t.co/LYb3obxraT</a>
&#8212; Mark Roberts (@RobertsforCD2) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertsforCD2/status/1024299821170024448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
Roberts also has an epithet for Melania Trump&#8217;s husband:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Is our wackjob President still running the country into the ground? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/justwokeup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#justwokeup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nap?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#nap</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AskingForAFriend?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AskingForAFriend</a>
&#8212; Mark Roberts (@RobertsforCD2) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertsforCD2/status/1016784641699614720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
But Roberts should be a great candidate; he&#8217;s for common sense representation:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
I have time and time again and the incumbent I&#8217;m facing has $3 mil in the bank so if you don&#8217;t donate for common sense representation then guys like me will fade away. <a href="https://t.co/4Q4d94FLrz">https://t.co/4Q4d94FLrz</a>
&#8212; Mark Roberts (@RobertsforCD2) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertsforCD2/status/1009461380217384960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
Apparently &#8220;common sense representation&#8221; allows for wide latitude when it comes to language.

Oregon Candidate For Congress Calls Melania A Whore

Donald Trump

Melania Trump

A federal judge in Oregon has ruled that high school boys in an Oregon school district must allow a girl who claims she is a boy to share their bathrooms and locker room.
In a lawsuit filed by parents and students at a high school in Dallas, Oregon, the plaintiffs stated that the boys felt &#8220;embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, intimidation, fear, apprehension, and stress produced by using the restroom with students of the opposite sex.&#8221;
But U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez ruled &#8220;high school students do not have a fundamental privacy right to not share school restrooms, lockers, and showers with transgender students whose biological sex is different than theirs.&#8221; He wrote that the stress the boys felt was not &#8220;comparable to the plight of transgender students who are not allowed to use facilities consistent with their gender identity.&#8221;
The transgender boy in question is Elliot Yoder, who had been using a gender-neutral bathroom before gym, but Yoder wanted to use the boys locker room to change clothes because the gender-neutral bathroom was two floors away from the gym.
Brook Shelley of Basic Rights Oregon said, &#8220;We are thrilled with the judge&#8217;s decision.&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oregon/articles/2018-07-25/judges-ruling-supports-oregon-schools-transgender-policy">USNews</a> reported, &#8220;The potential threat that a high school student might see or be seen by someone of the opposite biological sex while either are undressing or performing bodily functions &#8216;does not give rise to a constitutional violation,&#8217; Hernandez concluded. Furthermore, bathrooms have stalls with doors for privacy, he noted.&#8221;
In 2015, the Obama Administration Department of Education&#8217;s Office of Civil Rights threatened to remove funding from Illinois&#8217; Township High School District 211 if it didn&#8217;t permit a boy claiming to be a girl to use the girls locker room. The letter from the department <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/settlement-reached-palatine-ill-township-high-school-district-211-remedy-transgender-discrimination">informed the district</a> that it was violating Title IX, which barred sex discrimination in K-12 districts that received federal funding.

Oregon Judge Rules High School Boys Must Share Locker Room And Bathrooms With Transgender Boy

For over a month, a group of activists has been camping outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Oregon. 
<a href="https://katu.com/news/local/timeline-protesters-call-for-abolishment-of-ice-outside-portland-facility">According to KATU</a>, the protest initially began on June 17 over the activists&#8217; concerns with reports that the Trump administration had a policy to separate children from their parents at the border.
On Monday night, <a href="https://katu.com/news/local/portland-police-post-eviction-notices-for-occupy-ice-protesters">police put up eviction notices</a> notifying the demonstrators that they had to leave the encampment by Tuesday or face arrest or citation. Despite initially claiming they wouldn&#8217;t leave, on Tuesday morning it was reported that several members of the group were dismantling their encampment and claimed they would be donating their supplies to other Occupy ICE movements.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Here&#8217;s a look at all the stuff demonstrators left behind at the Occupy ICE camp. The City of Portland notified protesters on Monday that they must leave the property by the end of the day Tuesday. <a href="https://t.co/QLHPAqCPZQ">pic.twitter.com/QLHPAqCPZQ</a>
&#8212; KATU News (@KATUNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/KATUNews/status/1022169613432279040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
These champions of the Left must have done a poor job because they left a mess so large that the city had to hire private contractors to clean up it up. Videos of the encampment show garbage, large structures, mattresses, clothing, and portable toilets.
The mess has even raised safety and biohazard concerns. 
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
The city has hired private contractors to clean up the mess left behind at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OccupyICEPDX?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OccupyICEPDX</a> camp. They&#8217;re calling this site a biohazard. <a href="https://t.co/Py2Zx9zjIZ">pic.twitter.com/Py2Zx9zjIZ</a>
&#8212; Marja Martinez (@MarjaKPTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarjaKPTV/status/1022191808539897858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
In the encampment, <a href="https://katu.com/news/local/police-chief-outlaw-we-had-to-get-ahead-of-it-before-it-spiraled-out-of-control">police found</a> large structures, nails, needles, and feces.
This is not the only controversy caused by this group. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/33552/shock-report-feds-say-anti-ice-protesters-hurled-emily-zanotti">The Daily Wire reported</a> that this same group of anti-ICE protesters was hurling racial slurs at minority federal officers.

&#8216;Occupy ICE&#8217; Protestors Leave Gross Biohazard Mess In Portland Encampment

Immigration

Protest

In Portland, two employees lost their job at a bakery for denying service to a black woman after closing time.
Following the incident, &#8220;Back To Eden Bakery&#8221; issued several public apologies. In one Facebook post, the bakery&#8217;s co-owner wrote, &#8220;We are doing business in a gentrified neighborhood in a racist city within a racist state of a racist country.&#8221;
The incident sounds all-too-similar to the Starbucks situation, where a manager called the police on two black men who wanted to use the restroom and refused to buy something. Here&#8217;s how <a href="http://abcstlouis.com/news/nation-world/oregon-bakery-fires-employees-for-denying-black-woman-service-after-closing">ABC local</a> described the incident:
<blockquote>
In one statement, &#8220;Back To Eden Bakery&#8221; says that according to its own surveillance video, a black woman named &#8220;Lillian,&#8221; who is well known in the area as a &#8220;professional equity activist,&#8221; entered at 9:06 p.m., after the bakery&#8217;s closing time. Employees had also turned off the &#8220;Open&#8221; sign, but several customers (all white) who had already ordered were still inside. Two other white women who went to the bakery two minutes before &#8220;Lillian,&#8221; and were also informed that the business was closed for the night.
The bakery says &#8220;Lillian&#8221; left the store briefly and began recording video.
</blockquote>
So, because &#8220;Lillian&#8221; could not accept that perhaps some customers dealt with employees who were more relaxed on the rules, two employees have now lost their jobs for following business protocol. In the bakery&#8217;s own statement, the employees were not fired for being racist or for violating any rules, but because &#8220;sometimes impact outweighs intent.&#8221;
Translation: Social justice matters more than actual justice. Or better yet, feelings matter more than facts.
The bakery also said the employees &#8220;lacked sensitivity and understanding of the racial implications at work.&#8221;
What were the employees supposed to do? The woman came to the establishment demanding special treatment and somehow they were the ones who lacked sensitivity and understanding. &#8220;Lillian&#8221; certainly has no sensitivity or understanding, considering that she was the one who publicly called for their firing.
In another statement, the bakery even admitted the employees did nothing wrong, saying &#8220;this is more about how a black woman was made to feel&#8221; at the business.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
This is insane. Bakery in Portland fired employees after they declined to serve a woman who came in after they were already closed. The woman, a professional equity activist, took out a video camera &amp; claimed she was a victim of racism. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StarbucksEffect?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StarbucksEffect</a> <a href="https://t.co/Xwb8fynXXv">https://t.co/Xwb8fynXXv</a> <a href="https://t.co/gjbUpmTAcq">pic.twitter.com/gjbUpmTAcq</a>
&#8212; Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1001341049963364352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xGytDsqkQY8" width="560"></iframe></div>

PORTLAND: Bakery Fires Employees For Denying Service To A Black Woman AFTER CLOSING TIME

Portland

Race

This has been one doggone awful week for United Airlines. 
On Monday, a French bulldog died in an overhead bin on a United flight after a flight attendant told its owners to put it there.
The next day, passenger Kara Swindle went to collect her family&#8217;s German Shepherd, Irgo, at a United cargo facility in Kansas City. Her family, she said, was completing their move from Oregon to Wichita.
But Irgo wasn&#8217;t there. 
Irgo was in Japan.
Because United accidentally put him on a flight to Tokyo. 
In the pup&#8217;s place was a Great Dane that United was supposed to have sent to Japan.
Swindle said that she didn&#8217;t find out until 2:30 a.m. where Irgo was. That&#8217;s when his flight landed in Japan.
&#8220;This has just all been a whirlwind,&#8221; Swindle told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/14/us/united-flight-dog-mix-up/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNN</a>.
She added that Irgo hadn&#8217;t eaten or drank anything for the duration of the 16-plus hours flight, and that he missed three days worth of medication for an ear infection. Presumably the medication won&#8217;t be available until he gets home.
United released a statement apologizing for the mix-up, explaining that it occurred when the two dogs were being placed on connecting flights in Denver.
&#8220;We have notified our customers that their pets have arrived safely and will arrange to return the pets to them as soon as possible. We apologize for this mistake and are following up with the vendor kennel where they were kept overnight to understand what happened,&#8221; United&#8217;s statement read in part. 
On Thursday, United was set to fly Irgo on a private charter from Tokyo to Wichita. Maybe this dog will have its day, after all.

NOT AGAIN! United Airlines Mistakenly Flies Kansas-Bound German Shepherd to Japan

Dogs

Japan

Kansas

United Airlines

How romantic to end your 66-year marriage Romeo &amp; Juliet-style, says the <a href="https://sharewisdom.tv/living-dying-love-story-documentary/">new documentary</a> &#8220;Living &amp; Dying: A Love Story.&#8221;
Recounting the story of Oregon elderly couple <a href="http://time.com/5179977/assisted-suicide-couple-death/">Charlie and Francie Emerick</a>, the documentary favorably portrays their decision to die by self-administered lethal injection, which was legally sanctioned by the Oregon Health Authority after the two were diagnosed with deadly diseases. Charlie had been suffering from advanced Parkinson&#8217;s Disease while Francie suffered from lymphoma.
According to the documentary, both Charlie and Francie were examined by medical and mental health practitioners before making the decision and were supported by family. In fact, the family watched them die together. Here reads the synopsis of those events:
<blockquote>
With loving and logistical support from eldest daughter Jerilyn, medical evaluations by caring physicians, and practical information and guidance from volunteers with End of Life Choices, Charlie and Francie move through the Death with Dignity qualification process.
The family&#8217;s remarkable acceptance of death, open communication, and intentional preparation are highlighted in one extraordinary scene where Francie discusses with Jerilyn and Sher the words to use when notifying friends and relatives after she and Charlie die.
As the date for their planned death nears, their family gathers with laughter and tears to celebrate Charlie and Francie&#8217;s 70 years together, and to say goodbye. Days later, Charlie and Francie fulfill their heartfelt wish &#8212; peacefully passing, hand in hand.
</blockquote>
Jerilyn, the couple&#8217;s eldest daughter, told reporters the decision was &#8220;natural.&#8221;
&#8220;They were each other&#8216;s best friend,&#8221; Jerilyn said. &#8220;In their last years, Dad was Mom&#8217;s eyes and Mom was Dad&#8217;s ears. It was natural for them to want to die together&#8221;.
Though the documentary does present opposition voices from close friends and relatives, the film portrays their decision in a positive light.
According to <a href="http://www.lifenews.com/2018/03/14/elderly-couple-kill-themselves-in-controversial-assisted-suicide-in-oregon/">LifeNews</a>, &#8220;Bioethicist Thaddeus Mason Pope speculated that they may have been the &#8216;first couple&#8217; to take their lives together under Oregon&#8217;s Death with Dignity law.&#8221;
Enacted in 1997, approximately 1,300 people have taken their lives under the Oregon &#8220;death with dignity&#8221; law. California <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/sd-me-end-life-20170702-story.html">legalized</a> the practice in 2016.

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