https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/11/cocaine-use-deletion-of-thousands-of-police-files-leads-to-ouster-of-2-portland-officers.html

Inside a Southeast Portland bar bathroom, one veteran Portland police officer said he stumbled on a sandwich bag of cocaine and began using the drug “off and on” for months before the Police Bureau found out.

Another veteran officer deleted nearly 3,000 files from a police server after her supervisors tried to transfer her to patrol, an investigation found.

The former officers – Mark Ellison and Michele Vergara – are among the 11 who have left the Portland Police Bureau since the beginning of 2024 while facing termination. The bureau allows officers to resign or retire before it issues discipline, although it sends any investigation to the state’s police certification agency anyway.

#ppb #ppa #portlandpolice #portlandpolicebureau #portland #pdx #oregon #portlandoregon #orpol #pnw #publicdefense

one of my fav attorneys sent this link to the group chat.

I remember hearing a lot about this for a while, prob via democracy now etc, but hadn’t thought of it in a minute.

everyone should listen to it & think about what our society is, how easily (in a combined & uneven way, ofc) it could happen to you or someone you love.

#KaliefBrowder #rikers #USPOL #Massincarceration #stopandfrisk #racism #fascism #publicdefense

"Close to half of California’s 58 counties do not employ any full-time public defense investigators."

Anat Rubin for CalMatters: https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/06/public-defense-investigators/

#Longreads #TrueCrime #California #PublicDefense #Investigation #Justice #Injustice #Legal #Law #SiskiyouCounty

DA nixes deal, demands tougher manslaughter sentence. Grieving spouse calls it ‘performative cruelty’

a man whose wife was killed by a drunk driver slammed District Attorney Nathan Vasquez for ripping up a plea deal approved by his predecessor and imposing a tougher sentence.

“It just feels like performative cruelty,” said Lauran Parise, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to his wife, Jennifer Parise, two years ago when a drunk driver slammed into their sedan, killing her.

#pdx #portland #Oregon #pnw #orpol #nathanVasquez #publicDefense #sadism #cruelty #grief #farright #MAGA #GiftLink #giftArticle

https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/033125_el_paso_shooter/attorney-walmart-shooter-believed-he-was-fulfilling-trumps-wishes-el-paso-attack/

Crusius said he saw video of that Trump rally and was motivated to act, Spencer said. In June 2019, a month after the Florida Trump rally, Crusius purchased a semiautomatic rifle online and had it delivered to a gun dealer in his hometown of Allen, Texas, near Dallas, according to court records.

#patrickCrusius #ElPaso #massShooter #MAGA #Trump #altRight #racism #fascism #publicdefense #nazi

I’ve got a feeling the idiotic bad effects that “Law & Order” has had on Public Defense in the USA will pale in comparison to those of the recent police bodycam YouTube “True Crime” content grifter fads. That shit is incredibly grim & deleterious.

#usPol #trueCrime #BodyWornCamera #bodycam #copaganda #youTube #spectacle #exploitation #content #contentCreators #publicdefender #publicDefense #exploreWithUs #Television #massIncarceration

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/05/oregon-public-defenders-crisis/

“Our district attorney’s office could take actions that would help with the public defense crisis,” Reding said. “In Multnomah County, our attorneys prepare a lot of cases for trial that turn into dismissals on the eve of trial. If our district attorney’s office could identify those cases that are dismissals much earlier in the process and dismiss them, that would save many hours of defense attorney time that we could then turn around and focus on taking new cases.”

Or y’know, just stop charging so much shit. Oregon’s well-fed prosecuting attorneys are operating in bad faith, and often on extremely flimsy charges.

#orPol #Oregon #PDX #publicDefense #publicDefender #uspol #nathanVasquez #Portland

https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2025/02/readers-respond-public-defenders-prevent-government-overreach.html

In Multnomah County, the district attorney has unfairly demonized public defenders, blaming us for systemic failures beyond our control. The reality is that we stand as a check against government overreach, ensuring that justice is not necessarily swift, but fair.

#USPol #pdx #Portland #orpol #publicdefense #publicdefender #nathanvasquez #acab #PortlandPolice #portlandpolicebureau

A rigorous study by the American Bar Association which found that Oregon has 31% percent of the Public Defenders it needs has been overruled by a DA Clique's vibes-based assessment.

https://mstdn.social/@OregonLive/113833237470635340

#orpol #publicdefense #criminaljustice #nathanvasquez #farright #uspol #sadism #publicdefender #PublicDefenders #Oregon #pdx #Portland