This Week in the Mercury
Friday, June 26, 2009
News Sit/Lie Dead: Chief Sizer Suspends Enforcement
Posted by Matt Davis on Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 4:24 PM
We reported earlier this week on a circuit court judge ruling the controversial sit/lie law unconstitutional. Now it seems the city attorney's office has reached a verdict to suspend enforcement of the law, and passed it on to Police Chief Rosie Sizer.
"I ruled that [the sit/lie law] is pre-empted by state law," says Judge Stephen Bushong. "It prohibits conduct permitted by state law, and that's not permitted under article 11, section two of our Oregon constitution." You can read Judge Bushong's entire ruling after the jump.
"It's great to see the end of this, because it was something that really looked unfair," says Patrick Nolen, an activist with Soapbox Under The Bridge who has fought the law since before its inception. "I've been working for a couple of years on this and I'm happy to see it go away. Although I don't think that just not enforcing it is the way to go. I think we need to get it off the books because it's still an unfair law," he says.
City Commissioner Amanda Fritz had planned to extend the ordinance for 6 more months while she, along with Commissioner Nick Fish, conducted "outreach" around it. But it turns out that the only outreach Fritz may end up doing is to have bought me a few slices of pizza. Fritz's office is yet to respond to an inquiry seeking comment.
It's been a great week to be an alternative weekly news reporter in Portland, Oregon. If only someone gave out prizes! When the county settled its part of the James Chasse Jr lawsuit yesterday for $925,000 I felt the Mercury's reporting on that issue over the last three years had been vindicated. Today's news about the sit/lie law is almost unbelievable on top of that. I'm proud of all the great work done by smart people on this issue and thrilled to see that good sense has finally prevailed.
Almost forgot: The Portland Business Alliance, which pushed for the sit/lie law, is yet to return a call for comment.
Have a GREAT FUCKING WEEKEND, Portland. I will.
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Next up: Nailing the hippocrates "Portland Clean & Safe" for simultaneously telling people to not ride bikes on sidewalks while riding on sidewalks.
Hippocrates? did the clean & safe folks take an oath to do no harm? Uh, ok... Riding on sidewalks in the downtown district is prohibited by ordinance. Just like cops can run red lights, those rent-a-cops are exempt.
And as far as sit-lie -- Great, another victory for the dirtbags. I just LOVE how the Merc sticks up for the worst things about Portland. Pedophile mayors, aggro street thieves, elitist pinhead architects, douchebag hipsters on bikes.. Jesus. Is there any room in Portland for the regular people who pay the taxes and provide the jobs?
Hopefully the cops will crack down even harder on the vermin infesting our sidewalks now that they have authority to under the disorderly conduct statute.
Does anyone even take you seriously anymore, Voluptuous? If you don't like what the Mercury is reporting, get out of here, no one cares for your trolling.
And while we're at it, you throwing around elitist is a little ironic.
Whoa. I was too busy to read the blog yesterday and I totally missed this. Fantastic!
WOW! This means I can sit outside your condo now and spange? You should petition the building owner to turn the vacant restaurant in your building to become a houseless feeding kitchen!!!
You should totally make the park block in front of your house a new "Dignity Village" It's being totally under utilized right now. I am sure that the Schnitzer family would donate lots of $$$ to your worthy causes. It is the "Cultural District" right? Why not celebrate ALL cultures!! AND the farmers market on Wednesdays would surely donate food! Better yet, open your living room to ALL!
anyone who sticks up for gutterpunks doesnt work downtown.
they have also never been too busy looking for their girlfriend to turn around and apologize that they didnt have free money for some little asshole in $120 hot topic pants and then had a knife pulled on them.
this was during sit-lie. sit-lie wasnt doing shit anyway.
fucking apologetic hippie attitudes towards scumbag teenage panhandlers is worst thing about portland.
spange sounds like a term for wanking it. heh heh.
The opposition to the sit/lie law was about civil rights, not about anyone's sob story about running into some scaaaary bums. Poor baaabies.
They aren't Scary, they are self entitled and have no social awareness or are waiting for someone to "Save" them, the only people that will do that will take advantage of them. Portland has a very high rate of trafficking people, I wonder why?
Why don't the conservative anti-tax type idiots complain when the City and its dumbass lawyers are so stupid they can't find a constitutional solution to this problem, costing the taxpayers tons of money? I guess taxes are only a problem when they are successful at solving social problems...
Way to go Mercury Staff! Wanna keep the good feelings going? Go after the Oregonian for being a lap dog of Randy Leonard.
Truth: Leonard is on record as being not in agreement with people like me who argued the sit/lie ordinance was unconstitutional. Fast forward to 143 and then 188 minutes into this video. April 29th, 2009
tinyurl.com/leonardmix2
Then read the Oregonian misinformation that Leonard has always opposed sit lie on the grounds it violates the constitution. June 23rd
tinyurl.com/leonardmix
Then email the managing editor of the Oregonian, who refused to correct their error.
theresebottomly@news.oregonian.com
There should be a pulitzer category for newspapers that catch other newspapers being the lapdogs of lying politicians. When a politician speaks, aren't reporters supposed to question them?
Linda Meng, the city Attorney needs to be fired for advising City Council that Sit/Lie was A-OK. Please file a FOA to get that memo.
? Why is it I feel like saying "I like people who have respect for other people"
Thanks for some good coverage all along on this issue and for posting the recent memo.
Leslie and The Badgers
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