March 11, 2004
'Faliure To Disperse' No Longer An Offense
Oregon Court Strikes Down Portion Of Disorderly Conduct Law
In other much more positive legal news, the Oregon Supreme Court comes down on the side of Portland protesters:
The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a "failure to disperse" law that's often used by police against defiant protesters.
The high court unanimously said the law, which is part of the state disorderly conduct statute, violates state constitutional rights of free speech and peaceful assembly.
According to the AP, the ruling comes in the appeal of "eight demonstrators arrested during a 1998 downtown Portland demonstration against the Clinton administration's decision to bomb Iraq" and upholds "Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael Marcus, who had ruled that the law did not give police enough guidance on when the right to assemble ends and a protest becomes unlawful."
Comments (1)
no one in particular on 11 Mar 2004
Here's a longer AP article with a few more details.