Update on Sit/Lie(/Stand) Ordinance

The City Ordinance that makes it a crime to sit, lie, or stand in Portland, Oregon received a new set of "enforcement guidelines" this summer. The new guidelines apply to Portland City Code (PCC) 14A.50.030, "Conduct Prohibited On Public Property" in a sub-section called "Obstructions as Nuisances," which technically focus only on obstructions to public ways and isn't specifically about standing, sitting, or lying on the sidewalk. The new guidelines are intended to help officers and citizens know what is acceptable and what is considered a violation of the City Code.

During an interview in August, Mayor Katz's media spokesperson Tommy Brooks told me something along the lines of the sit/lie ordinance doesn't exist, adding "Sit/lie was voted down by the City Council because the Council felt that it was unconstitutional. The sit/lie ordinance was a pilot project over the last year to see if there would be any problems [with enforcing it]." Noting activists' concerns that this would be used indiscriminately to target the homeless, he said, "The pilot project was successful since there were very few people cited in violation of this [ordinance]."

During my interview with her spokesperson, the Mayor paced back and forth, peering at me and sometimes commenting to Brooks. One reason she may have been uncomfortable was that there was a protest challenging the "Obstructions as Nuisances" ordinance in front of City Hall. Perhaps she thought the activists would storm the building. However, the protestors were too busy doing a sidewalk action and had no intention to try entering City Hall.

According to someone who works at a downtown agency, only 17 tickets have been issued since the program began and they claim 10 of those were the peace campers in front of Portland City Hall. The peace camp, which began on March 20, was eventually forced to shut down in August due to increased police harassment shortly after the guidelines went into effect. The guidelines allow police to give a person one warning and then cite them for being an obstruction (even immediately if they do not move fast enough), after which any other time they are seen sitting or lying anywhere on public property police may cite them again.

So please make sure you are not standing, sitting, or lying on the sidewalk as you read this. Why? In the event you are considered a nuisance that is obstructing the sidewalk, you could get your once-in- a-lifetime warning, be handed a citation, and be arrested, then taken out to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and given a big fine.

Drug-Free Zone Exclusions Slightly Harder

On November 24, Judge Michael Marcus ruled that the appeal process for Portland's "Drug-Free Zones" (DFZs, in which people suspected of drug crimes can be excluded for 90 days or one year­see PPR #27) was unconstitutional. Marcus found that the standard of proof, an officer's "probable cause" to arrest a person, was too low. The City Council responded on December 3 by unanimously passing an ordinance to raise that standard to "preponderance of the evidence."

The City Attorney and Deputy District Attorney Jim Hayden incorrectly told Council that Marcus had otherwise found DFZs to be perfectly legal. According to attorneys at the Oregon Law Center, which brought the case to court, Marcus did not address any issues beyond the appeals process.

Contact the Oregon Law Center at 503-295-2760.