In Portland, a Prosecutor Must Decide: Which Protesters Should Go to Jail?

[Nevilledog]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/23/us/portland-protests-prosecute.html

Just weeks after President Trump’s administration agreed to pull back federal officers from demonstrations in Portland, Ore., where his attempt at a high-profile crackdown backfired, the fate of the city’s protests now rests to a large extent with an altogether different leader: A brand-new, 39-year-old district attorney whose approach to enforcing the law is as contested as the demonstrations themselves.

The new prosecutor, Mike Schmidt, took office Aug. 1 after defeating an experienced federal prosecutor by a 3-to-1 margin in Multnomah County, which includes most of Portland. Even his critics say the breadth of his victory gave him a mandate to reshape prosecutions in Portland, a city of frequent protests, where there is no clear end in sight to demonstrations against police brutality that began after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

He has not been slow to shake things up: Ten days after taking office, Mr. Schmidt effectively dismissed charges against more than half of about 600 people arrested since the protests began at the end of May.

His directive met with strong objections from the Portland police and Multnomah County sheriff. But it was in keeping with his progressive campaign platform as one of a new generation of prosecutors across the country who are pledging to reduce penalties for low-level nonviolent crimes.

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[aeromanKC]

1. Trump's Storm Troopers should be the ones in lock up!!