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Editor’s note
There’s a big hole in Oregon’s media coverage. It’s in the shape of a gavel. Last month Oregonians skimmed articles about the State Supreme Court ruling on the question of Nick Kristof’s residency with respect to his run for governor. The Court determined that Kristof fell short and, consequently, reshaped the governor’s race.
It’s unlikely that many, if any, Oregonians read the entirety of the Court’s decision (despite it being one of their biggest opinions in recent memory). It’s even less likely that any Oregonians recognized the names of the justices making the decision. I’d give my left Nike shoe if more than 10 percent of the state’s population could name more than two justices.
That’s a problem.
The judiciary is a separate branch but it’s not meant to be a hidden one. Yet, that’s the current status of the Court. It’s decisions receive little attention. Its members are unknown. Its role in our democracy is underestimated.
I’m asking our biggest papers to publish one Court opinion per month. The whole thing. And concurrences and dissents, too.
Lawyers love to write but often for a niche audience. They try to show off to one another by using complex citations, words with too many syllables, and legal theories that have no relation to the issue at hand. These unnecessary practices make the law seem inaccessible and, therefore, make the people interpreting the law somewhat unaccountable.
Oregonians need more exposure to the third coequal branch of their government. Newspapers like The Oregonian could help residents better understand the importance of the Court and the judicial branch on the whole. Inclusion of an opinion per month would have the added benefit of making justices think twice about their word choice as well as the way they structure the opinion and describe legal theory.
Take it from a third year law student, judicial opinions occasionally require something much stiffer than your morning coffee to get through. And they almost always necessitate a dictionary. Placing an opinion in the O won’t change how jurists write overnight. However, it may nudge them, ever so slightly, to think a little bit harder about how to make their opinions more accessible.
This isn’t an argument for justices feeling like they have to represent the views of readers. That’s not their role. Their job is to interpret the law. Right now, they usually do it in a way that’s easily digestible for a very small part of the population. If the Court took the lead in making the law something that everyone could parse, then Oregonians would be in a better position to push their legislators (those that should be accountable to the people) to change problematic laws.
Of course, there’s a lot of other things that must take place for the law to become accessible. As Jenn Schuberth has written in the Way, we’ve got a literacy crisis in Oregon and if folks don’t know how to read at a functional level, then the law will always be inaccessible. Similarly, legislators have room for improvement in terms of writing understandable and simple laws.
This humble suggestion—an opinion a month—might be the ripple that turns into a wave of legal interest and reform.
Here’s to a better Oregon,
Kevin
To look forward to:
Our #GovernorGoals series. Learn more about how you can help shape the future of our state here.
Greg Wolf shares an exciting effort underway related to affordable housing.
Aaron Pina urges the next governor to take on our state’s troubling racist past to address current inequalities and injustices.
To interpret:
To read:
Rep. Khanh Pham makes clear that now’s the time to increase legislator pay.
Oregon Open Primaries is a volunteer group working to make the state’s democracy more inclusive by allowing voters of all affiliations to participate at the primary stage.
Read more here.
Kevin Frazier is nearing the end of his time at the Way. Learn more about this upcoming transition:
Read more here.
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Photo credit: "Gavel & Stryker" by KeithBurtis is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0