Mannix and Measure 73 are Tough on Crime Victims

Portland Mercury:

Rebecca Nickels, executive director of the Portland Women's Crisis Line says if her group had been consulted about a measure to reduce sex crime in Oregon, it would have written exactly the opposite of Measure 73: Paying for prevention and services, not putting more people behind bars. Her group checks in with eight Portland-area shelters five times a day, but still has to tell 60 percent of clients that none of the region's 100 shelter beds are open.

"Sometimes we have to get really creative, saying, 'Can you go to the airport?,' 'Can you go to an emergency room, a coffee shop, or even ride the MAX?'" says Nickels. Measure 73, meanwhile, will create 400 to 600 state-funded beds... in prison. For convicts.

Terrie Quinteros, executive director of the Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, notes that prison time is not very helpful in solving domestic violence because many victims do not report or prosecute their attackers.

"Whether or not they decide to pursue legally, there needs to be services in place for them," says Quinteros.

The state's largest union of prison guards also opposes the measure. The Oregon chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) represents over 1,500 corrections officers at 11 of the state's 14 prisons, and views the measure as an unfunded mandate that will lead to more overcrowding.

"Our members spoke up and said, 'This is bad.' We don't need more inmates. We're going to have to do more work with less resources," says AFSCME political director Joe Baessler.

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