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BRO, ACLU Win Court Decisions on IP 144 and 145

The Oregon Supreme Court today issued opinions in cases brought by Basic Rights Oregon and the Oregon ACLU challenging the ballot titles assigned to two initiatives that sought to repeal Oregon’s domestic partnership and anti-discrimination laws.

In the decisions, the Court agreed with some of the issues raised in the briefs on Initiative Petitions 144 and 145 and returned both titles to the State Attorney General for revision. The Attorney General now has five business days to submit a modified ballot title, after which the petitions could, technically, be approved for circulation. But the process is effectively moot already, since the chief petitioners abandoned their campaign more than two weeks ago. The deadline for signature gathering for the November ballot is July 3.

Click here for a .pdf file of the Court’s opinion on IP 144.
Click here for a .pdf file of the Court’s opinion on IP 145.

Another petition, IP 146, is about one month behind in the Court’s schedule.

Anti-equality groups have a single path remaining to the November ballot: a possible U.S. Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the Lemons v. Bradbury case that seeks to revive last year’s failed referendum on Oregon’s domestic partnership law. Click here for complete details on that case.