People Not Politicians responds to ruling by Ninth Circuit Court
MEDIA CONTACT
Norman Turrill, Chair, People Not Politicians, (503) 386-7996
Kathay Feng, Common Cause, (310) 880-6668
SALEM, Ore. — On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit remanded People Not Politicians Oregon v. Clarno to the Federal District Court for further factual determinations on whether the District Court’s original order is moot given upcoming election deadlines.
People Not Politicians prevailed in Federal District Court on July 10 when Judge Michael McShane recognized the diligence of the People Not Politicians signature-gathering campaign under extreme pandemic circumstances, and ruled in favor of protecting the first amendment rights of Oregonians to sign the initiative.
Norman Turrill, Chair of People Not Politicians and Chief Petitioner of IP 57, made the following statement:
“People Not Politicians is committed to ensuring that the 2021 redistricting process is fair, transparent and impartial and will continue to work toward an independent citizens redistricting commission in Oregon.
The Ninth Circuit did not rule on the question of whether IP 57 should be placed on the November ballot. Rather, given the time left to place an initiative on the ballot, the court raised questions about whether IP 57 could make it to the ballot in time for the November 3, 2020 election.
People Not Politicians, a broad, diverse coalition of organizations and individuals from across the state has run an extraordinary campaign under unprecedented circumstances of a public health pandemic. More importantly, tens of thousands of Oregonians have raised their hands to say that they want a redistricting process that puts people, not politicians, in charge of drawing district lines.
We will pursue our case at the District Court and continue our efforts to ensure an impartial and open redistricting for Oregonians.”
On July 30, the Oregon’s Secretary of State determined that PNP submitted enough valid signatures to meet the threshold set by Federal District Court Judge McShane in his July 10 order.
IP 57, filed in November 2019, would create the Oregon Citizens Redistricting Commission and put redistricting in the hands of voters, not our politicians.
The initiative campaign coalition is led by the League of Women Voters of Oregon, Common Cause Oregon, Oregon Farm Bureau, the Independent Party of Oregon, NAACP Eugene/Springfield Branch, OSPIRG, Oregon’s Progressive Party, the Taxpayer Association of Oregon, and tens of thousands of Oregonians who support the effort to remove conflicts of interest from drawing voting lines.
Adam Lauridsen, David J. Rosen, Jay Rapaport, and Tara M. Rangchi of Keker, Van Nest and Peters lead the legal team in the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court. Common Cause attorneys Dan Vicuna, Suzanne
Almeida, Kathay Feng, law clerks Alton Wang and Michael Guggenheim, along with Steve Elzinga of Sherman, Sherman, Johnnie and Hoyt contributed.
Learn more about the campaign’s historic effort at www.PeopleNotPoliticiansOregon.com.
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