Marion County Circuit Court is expected to hand down a decision in BRO's legal challenge to Ballot Measure 36 any day. While we anxiously await that decision, we wanted to make sure that you knew what to expect when the court rules.
This is, without a doubt, a challenging case to argue. Although for all of us the inherent unfairness of Measure 36 is clear, legally it is neither simple nor clear cut that it can be overturned. Following the passage of Measure 36, BRO attorneys, together with the ACLU and other legal experts, spent months conducting legal research and planning the legal strategy in this case. We did not, as some have suggested, want to have this measure thrown out on a "technicality" that would simply allow our opponents to submit yet anotherand potentially more severemeasure to Oregon voters. Put simply, we wanted to construct a case that, if successful, would not represent a temporary victory, but would create a lasting win, both legally AND politically.
To be frank, our ability to win at the circuit court level is constrained. (To learn why, click here.) It is important to know that this ruling merely represents the first step in a long process.It is ultimately a two-or three-act play that will be performed first in Marion County Circuit Court, then in the Oregon Court of Appeals, and finally in the Oregon Supreme Court. It will play out while weat the same timecontinue to build political power and public support that will create equality across our state. And no matter what twists and turns the plot takes, this legal fight will not be over until the Oregon Supreme Court's final scene.
When we filed this challenge to Measure 36, we knew that it could potentially be a long, tough fightand that we might lose a round or two. But we have pressed ahead because we believe in the strength of our legal arguments and because we believeabove all elsethat it is important to say: This measure is wrong. This measure violates every Oregon tradition of fairness by treating some Oregonians differently from others. This measure has hurt Oregonians and their families. It is a shameful mark on our fair state.
To read more about the case, including legal filings, plaintiff bios and more,
click here.
