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Provisional Missions

by Rob Raschio, OCDLA President

From the January/Febraury 2012 Oregon Defense Attorney


“To champion justice, to promote individual rights and to support the legal defense community through education and advocacy.”

Our mission. Well, our provisional mission. The board decided at the Winter Conference—after a two-meeting debate on what our mission statement should be as an organization—to provisionally adopt the language quoted above. The discussion was led by Lane Borg. Lane did a great job of getting the board to think about what the OCDLA means, what principles should guide us in the future, and how to distill those principles into our educational and legislative efforts.

To Champion Justice
Missionstatements.com (that’s right, a mission statement dot com) states that a mission statement for a non-profit “summarizes the good that the organization hopes to bring to the world.” The question for the board, and to you as a member, is: what is the good we bring to the world?

Justice. Yes, we strive for justice for our clients every day. Certainly justice is a loaded concept that carries with it a number of connotations. Our board struggled with the phrase “to champion justice.” When I typed in the phrase “champion justice” on the web the first hit I got was government is good—government is the champion of justice. However, from the debate on the board I heard the general sense that we as defenders of liberty are dedicated to justice. We are dedicated to being the weight on the scales of justice balancing the individual against the mighty weight of the state. Without us, the criminal defense attorneys, there can be no justice.

Think about it, today, December 14, 2011, Marc Brown of the state public defenders office won State v. Moore, the court of appeals adhered to and readopted its opinion in Machuca stating that any “consent” after reading the detailed threats in the implied consent form is not consent at all but coerced evidence by the state. If exigency cannot be proven, then police must get a warrant. Drug recognition experts will likely not be able to articulate the exigency in most cases. The just result prevails again. Obtain a warrant. The Fourth Amendment and Article I, section 9, require it, and it is the best practice. Marc stands as an example of our function protecting justice. Justice requires that an individual not be coerced into giving evidence against their interest unless the Constitution is adhered to.

The OCDLA continues to educate its members through continuing legal education, publications, the Pond listserve and now the Library of Defense. We continue to focus on the most current status of the law and how to create the very best defense for an individual charged with crimes. Additionally, our legislative agenda centers around procedural fairness in the courtroom core and fundamental to justice.

To Promote Individual Rights
OCDLA demonstrates our role in promoting an individual’s rights to be free of government interference by the protections guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the Oregon Constitution through the same activities as stated above. We, along with a short list of other organizations in Oregon, focus our efforts promoting individual liberties.

To Support the Legal Defense Community Through Education and Advocacy
The clearest portion of the mission statement to me, as an individual board member, is the third prong of our mission statement: to support the legal defense community through education and advocacy. Obviously, with numerous CLEs and the Pond, this prong is core to what the OCDLA is.

Also clear is that the Winter Conference at the Benson (which was fantastic this year from start to finish), the Annual Conference in Bend, and all other CLEs are times for us to come together as a community. To meet with each other, to trade war stories, to commiserate over cases gone wrong, to learn new ideas and approaches, and to share a meal or just a smile. To not feel the need to explain what we do so much as how we do it. Our community is a good the OCDLA brings to the world.

So, there is my sketch of how I came to my support of the mission statement. Provisionally, of course. Which I think is hilarious. Only criminal defense attorneys would provisionally set a mission to be reviewed and potentially revised later. Really, it speaks to the gravity of the matter to our organization, so my question to you is: What is the mission of the OCDLA? If you have thoughts that run counter to mine or the board’s current mission statement, let us know. If you would add or subtract or tweak, let us know. We will be discussing the final version in March.

Securing the Future
The board has been working very hard all year to secure the OCDLA’s future. As you know, we have been creating a new online community for you in the form of the Library of Defense. The board saw a mockup of the site in December. I will brag for us by saying it is amazing. Alex Bassos and the team brought together by John Potter have done a fantastic job of creating the website. The formal roll-out is at the end of January. Watch for the announcement. The site alone will be worth the price of membership. Remember, the Library of Defense needs editors and writers to maintain excellence. Alex can do a lot, but he can’t do it all. Volunteer.

Our new Legislative Committee is formed. Remember, each member needs other individuals to help them research and write position papers and remain on top of the current law. Those who volunteered will be contacted soon by those on the committee. If you are interested, feel free to contact the listed members about assisting them in their work. There was an amazing show of support for our legislative efforts. The board is excited to see how this new committee will work.
February is around the corner, have you had coffee with your legislator yet? I have, and it went very well. There are tools available to you through PDSC to help you with that part of your conversation.

My partner John A. Olson has been appointed by Governor Kitzhaber to replace Judge Don Hull here in the Seventh Judicial District. John is a fine trial advocate, compassionate counselor and a deeply intelligent man. I am both elated for him and sad for the loss to my practice. John and I tried great cases together. Some chemistry is unexplainable and irreplaceable. If I keep going I might make it sound like he’s dead, which he isn’t. Just “elevated.”

So, there is a job opening in lovely The Dalles/Hood River area working with my office led by Jack Morris, former OCDLA president. Great place to live and work. Check out the Jobs page for more information about the application process.

Happy 2012 everyone. The ongoing commitment you have to your work and this organization is inspired. Stay involved. My sincere wish is 2012 is successful and profitable for each of you.