Commissioner Nick Fish this afternoon announced he was joining U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton in raising questions about one of the more palatable elements, from a civil rights perspective, of Mayor Sam Adams' draft proposal for re-engaging with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
That element concerns a prohibition on Portland cops participating in preliminary investigations, or "assessments." The federal probes require less evidence of criminal behavior than Oregon's stronger civil right laws say is necessary, the mayor said this morning, and that's why he told me that, after hearing "all the arguments," he's pretty firmly committed to keeping cops out of those.
Holton argued in a letter sent to the council that such a prohibition would be too difficult and impractical to make work, given the nature of the JTTF's work. Fish, in a statement today, echoed that concern.
However, I am concerned that the addition of the limitation to only allow Portland police officers to participate in "full investigations" is a fundamental flaw in the resolution. The provision is confusing and will prevent officers from performing basic police work when working with the JTTF.
Earlier I spoke with Dan Saltzman's chief of staff, Brendan Finn, about that issue—a significant one given Saltzman's recent call for "clarity" in the JTTF outcome. But Saltzman, was observing Passover last night and didn't have a comment. Both Fish and Saltzman, along with Holton, had supported an earlier version of Adams' plan.
Fish's full statement is after the jump.
Update 5:55 PM: The ACLU is reacting to the mayor's proposal, but in favor of his safeguards on participation in "assessments." Their full statement will be after Fish's.
The Mayor’s proposal represents a thoughtful framework that should meet the City’s and the FBI’s needs to keep our community safe while also ensuring that Portland police stay within the confines of the Oregon Constitution and Oregon law,” said ACLU Legislative Director Andrea Meyer. In a prepared statement, the ACLU said the proposal “is consistent with the spirit of the Portland City Council’s 2005 resolution and includes additional safeguards that will make it stronger.”
Mayor Adams made the right call when he announced his work plan to inform Council's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) decision. We have had a wide-ranging and thoughtful process.As a City Commissioner, I take very seriously my duty to keep Portlanders safe. We face serious threats from Al Qaida, its allies, and from domestic terrorist groups. At this moment, Americans are in the field fighting and dying to protect our freedoms.
As a former civil rights lawyer, I also take very seriously my duty to protect our cherished Constitutional freedoms and liberties.
The Mayor's proposed resolution is an improvement over the 2005 resolution. I have worked closely with the Mayor to be sure the protections of civil rights are explicit and the supervision by Council and the police chief are clear.
However, I am concerned that the addition of the limitation to only allow Portland police officers to participate in "full investigations" is a fundamental flaw in the resolution. The provision is confusing and will prevent officers from performing basic police work when working with the JTTF.
I am confident that Council can create an agreement with our federal partners that will protect liberties and enhance safety. I will be working with my colleagues to bring an amendment to address what I see as a critical shortcoming in the proposed resolution.
The ACLU of Oregon today urged support of the proposal put forward by Mayor Sam Adams regarding Portland’s relationship with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“The Mayor’s proposal represents a thoughtful framework that should meet the City’s and the FBI’s needs to keep our community safe while also ensuring that Portland police stay within the confines of the Oregon Constitution and Oregon law,” said ACLU Legislative Director Andrea Meyer.
In a prepared statement, the ACLU said the proposal “is consistent with the spirit of the Portland City Council’s 2005 resolution and includes additional safeguards that will make it stronger.”
U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton generally endorsed the proposal yesterday with the exception of one provision that in most circumstances would limit the involvement of Portland police officers unless a matter reaches the “full investigation” stage as defined in the U.S. Attorney General’s Guidelines for terrorism investigations.
Meyer said that particular limitation is very important to prevent Portland officers from violating Oregon laws and the state constitution. She noted that the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General issued a report last year documenting significant abuses by the FBI in monitoring lawful political and religious activity in violation of its own Guidelines.
“Many of the abuses arose when the FBI was engaged in ‘assessments’ and ‘preliminary’ rather than ‘full’ investigations,” Meyer said. “Restricting involvement by Portland police officers until there is evidence a particular individual or organization is involved in a terrorism conspiracy will prevent our police from being put in the difficult position of violating Oregon law, even unintentionally.”
ACLU of Oregon Executive Director David Fidanque said the approach in the Mayor’s proposal is necessary because the FBI and other federal intelligence agencies operate under less protective laws and rules than do Oregon police agencies.
“It is now documented beyond dispute that the FBI routinely violates even their own very lax federal restrictions.” Fidanque said. “As a result, the FBI and its partners routinely violate the civil rights and civil liberties of thousands of innocent Americans.”
“Until those practices are changed, the framework that Mayor Adams has proposed is necessary to ensure that local police can continue to operate within the requirements of Oregon law and also maintain the chain of command of our local Chief of Police and civilian elected officials,” Fidanque said.
Oregon law prohibits state and local police agencies from monitoring the lawful political and religious activities of Oregonians unless there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person or organization is or may be involved in criminal conduct.
Fidanque said the Mayor’s proposal is far from perfect, because it contains an exception to the “full” investigation requirement when the FBI determines there is an “imminent terrorist threat” or “a critical incident.”
“Neither of those terms is defined in the Mayor’s proposal and we worry that those exceptions could swallow the rule,” Fidanque said. “Nevertheless, the Mayor’s proposal will substantially reduce the risk that Oregon law will be violated by Portland police officers when they cooperate with the FBI in appropriate cases and we urge the Council to approve it.”
