Congressional candidate Janelle Bynum and attorney general candidate Dan Rayfield knew state attorney said program unconstitutional, increased funding anyway
Last year, Bynum introduced an unreasonable and unworkable bill in the Oregon legislature that essentially would have imposed strict liability on athletic directors and their staffs in the Oregon university system if fans made offensive statements during games.
The proposed law would have imposed an onerous compliance regime on athletic programs and the student body that would have been vastly disproportionate to the offense. It proved to be too much even for the legislature's progressives and it failed. That's fortunate, but the attempt alone was an outrage.
College coaches, ADs could be suspended for bad fan behavior under proposed Oregon House bill
Updated: Mar. 17, 2023, 3:39 p.m.|Published: Mar. 15, 2023, 3:25 p.m.
By James Crepea | The Oregonian/OregonLive
A bill proposed in the Oregon state House is targeting fan behavior at college sporting events and would hold coaches and athletic directors accountable if fans act out.
Under the proposed bill, coaches such as Dan Lanning, Jonathan Smith, Dana Altman and Scott Rueck and athletic directors such as Rob Mullens and Scott Barnes could face one-week suspensions if fans at Oregon or Oregon State games “engage in the use of derogatory or inappropriate names, insults, verbal assaults, profanity or ridicule in violation of equity focused policies.”
Public universities in Oregon could also lose state grants, state scholarship money and support from the Oregon State Police if they fail to enact and enforce policies that address such language that occurs at school events, including sporting events, under House bill 2472.
A state law regulating fan behavior in which college coaches and athletic directors would face suspensions would be unprecedented. As written, the bill does not address who is the arbiter of the fans’ behavior or if violators have to have an allegiance to a public university in the state, potentially creating an incentive for opposing fans to act egregiously and under the guise of being aligned with a state school in order to prompt suspensions against UO or OSU coaches and athletic directors.
The bill, proposed by Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas, would require public universities to maintain a “transparent complaint process” that has a reporting system for participants or the public to “make complaints about student, coach or spectator behavior,” according to the bill.
Schools would have to respond to those complaints within 48 hours, attempt to resolve them within 30 days, develop and implement a “system of sanctions against students, coaches and spectators” if a complaint is verified and conduct an annual survey of students “to understand and respond to potential violations of equity focused policies.”
Additionally, the bill would require all athletic department employees to receive training related to these policies.
A work session for the bill, which is supported by the Oregon Student Association, has been called for March 28 at 3 p.m.
The bill proposal comes in response to the vulgar, anti-Mormon chant from a small number of students at Autzen Stadium during Oregon’s football game against BYU last September.
In 2021, Bynum was chief sponsor of HB2002, a criminal justice reform measure that was intended to protect black people from potentially harmful interactions with law enforcement:
While the provision that attracted the most attention was the prohibition against stopping motorists for driving with broken vehicle lights, "[p]olice [would have been] prohibited from making arrests for about 20 misdemeanor crimes, including criminal trespassing, second and third-degree theft and interfering with public transportation."
Law enforcement got it right when they objected to the proposed law:
"In a joint letter to lawmakers this month, they said the bill 'makes sweeping changes to the public safety system from initial stop, to arrest, to the sentence and to probation … all without, in our opinion, the thoughtful exchange necessary to ensure these reform driven measures don’t result in unintended impacts and real safety risks to Oregonians.' "
HB2002 ultimately failed, but like Bynum's attempt to control fan misconduct by punishing university coaches, this measure is an example of harmful legislative overreach in pursuit of speculative benefits.
It was in the story. On reflection, I wonder whether envisioning the her son on the field when fans were hurling racist verbal abuse at the Ducks is what caused Bynum to craft such a draconian measure.
I presume the hypothetical example in your post was just that, but I would hope that our representative from eastern Oregon could find more than a few who could qualify to at least one of the criteria.
I hear that at least one law firm is willing to help a plaintiff sue on this for free once a plaintiff arises. Likely should be someone who applied for some of the EEIP grant funding and didn't get it bc of their race.
And Rayfield his opponent is a personal injury attorney…the lowest of the low. Unfortunately, Democrats have held the attorney general’s office since 1993. Not holding my breath.
I have voted for every Democrat running, with the exception of Dave Frohnmayer, until about 2016, when I largely gave up because most of the candidates were awful (Dennis Richardson and Betsy Johnson being exceptions).
Will is the first really serious opponent in many many years for the AG's office.
Yes, I read the bill right before it was being voted on in Ways & Means. My office notified the W&M committee of the constitutional issues with this line item and urged them to remove it. They didn't. So, when the bill came to the floor, I had to make a difficult decision - do I vote no because of this one line, on a bill that also included essential funding for other areas of government, including things in my district that I had pushed to fund and people were expecting me to support? Or do I vote yes, make sure other essential projects get funded, and fight this unconstitutional EEIP program another way?
I chose to vote yes, while raising attention to this line item during discussion on the house floor. And, at that time, I decided that I would fight the EEIP in the public square and get lawyers involved to strike the law down.
I will not let this go. I will be introducing legislation in 2025 to either repeal or radically alter this legislation.
A vital piece of journalism. I wish it could have been broken up into heads and bullet points for the modern reader. However, I am so glad of your having done this work. Thank you
Your work is so valuable and modern readers cannot manage long paragraphs.
I was atechnical writer for a bit and even when the subject was of immediate professional interest (Maintaining the electrical system in the new Freightliner tractor) you had to direct the eyes to the salient point(s).
But like Lyon sez below, "whatever" just keep working on our behalf. Please
Jeff, I looked at the vote on SB5701, and Rep Diehl was a aye vote. Did he not read the bill?
Excerpt from SB5701: there is appropriated to the Oregon Business Development Department, for the biennium ending June 30, 2025, out of the General Fund, the amount of $8,000,000, for deposit into the Economic Equity Investment Fund...
Good review, Rayfield and Bynum part of the Oregon corruptocats. Again laws be damned
Janelle Bynum is bad news.
Last year, Bynum introduced an unreasonable and unworkable bill in the Oregon legislature that essentially would have imposed strict liability on athletic directors and their staffs in the Oregon university system if fans made offensive statements during games.
The proposed law would have imposed an onerous compliance regime on athletic programs and the student body that would have been vastly disproportionate to the offense. It proved to be too much even for the legislature's progressives and it failed. That's fortunate, but the attempt alone was an outrage.
The Oregonian's article speaks for itself:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
College coaches, ADs could be suspended for bad fan behavior under proposed Oregon House bill
Updated: Mar. 17, 2023, 3:39 p.m.|Published: Mar. 15, 2023, 3:25 p.m.
By James Crepea | The Oregonian/OregonLive
A bill proposed in the Oregon state House is targeting fan behavior at college sporting events and would hold coaches and athletic directors accountable if fans act out.
Under the proposed bill, coaches such as Dan Lanning, Jonathan Smith, Dana Altman and Scott Rueck and athletic directors such as Rob Mullens and Scott Barnes could face one-week suspensions if fans at Oregon or Oregon State games “engage in the use of derogatory or inappropriate names, insults, verbal assaults, profanity or ridicule in violation of equity focused policies.”
Public universities in Oregon could also lose state grants, state scholarship money and support from the Oregon State Police if they fail to enact and enforce policies that address such language that occurs at school events, including sporting events, under House bill 2472.
A state law regulating fan behavior in which college coaches and athletic directors would face suspensions would be unprecedented. As written, the bill does not address who is the arbiter of the fans’ behavior or if violators have to have an allegiance to a public university in the state, potentially creating an incentive for opposing fans to act egregiously and under the guise of being aligned with a state school in order to prompt suspensions against UO or OSU coaches and athletic directors.
The bill, proposed by Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas, would require public universities to maintain a “transparent complaint process” that has a reporting system for participants or the public to “make complaints about student, coach or spectator behavior,” according to the bill.
Schools would have to respond to those complaints within 48 hours, attempt to resolve them within 30 days, develop and implement a “system of sanctions against students, coaches and spectators” if a complaint is verified and conduct an annual survey of students “to understand and respond to potential violations of equity focused policies.”
Additionally, the bill would require all athletic department employees to receive training related to these policies.
A work session for the bill, which is supported by the Oregon Student Association, has been called for March 28 at 3 p.m.
The bill proposal comes in response to the vulgar, anti-Mormon chant from a small number of students at Autzen Stadium during Oregon’s football game against BYU last September.
https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2023/03/college-coaches-ads-could-be-suspended-for-bad-fan-behavior-under-proposed-oregon-house-bill.html
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In 2021, Bynum was chief sponsor of HB2002, a criminal justice reform measure that was intended to protect black people from potentially harmful interactions with law enforcement:
" 'Police are constantly called for things that aren’t real public safety priorities' and those encounters can be 'harmful and lethal' to Black people and other people of color, said Shannon Wight, deputy director of the Partnership for Safety & Justice." https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/04/black-lawmakers-push-for-bill-to-limit-arrests-traffic-stops-in-oregon.html
While the provision that attracted the most attention was the prohibition against stopping motorists for driving with broken vehicle lights, "[p]olice [would have been] prohibited from making arrests for about 20 misdemeanor crimes, including criminal trespassing, second and third-degree theft and interfering with public transportation."
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/04/black-lawmakers-push-for-bill-to-limit-arrests-traffic-stops-in-oregon.html
The offenses were:
(a) Unsworn falsification under ORS 162.085;
(b) Theft in the third degree under ORS 164.043;
(c) Criminal trespass in the second degree by a guest under ORS 164.243;
(d) Criminal trespass in the second degree under ORS 164.245;
(e) Criminal trespass at a sports event under ORS 164.278;
(f) Offensive littering under ORS 164.805;
(g) Unlawful sound recording under ORS 164.865;
(h) Forgery in the second degree under ORS 165.007;
(i) Criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree under ORS 165.017;
(j) Misrepresentation of age by a minor under ORS 165.805;
(k) Interfering with public transportation under ORS 166.116;
(l) Unlawful possession of a controlled substance under ORS 475.752 constituting a
misdemeanor;
(m) Unlawful possession of methadone under ORS 475.824 constituting a misdemeanor;
(n) Unlawful possession of oxycodone under ORS 475.834 constituting a misdemeanor;
(o) Unlawful possession of heroin under ORS 475.854 constituting a misdemeanor;
(p) Unlawful possession of cocaine under ORS 475.884 constituting a misdemeanor;
(q) Unlawful possession of methamphetamine under ORS 475.894 constituting a
misdemeanor; or
(r) An attempt to commit a crime listed in paragraphs (a) to (q) of this subsection.
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2002
Law enforcement got it right when they objected to the proposed law:
"In a joint letter to lawmakers this month, they said the bill 'makes sweeping changes to the public safety system from initial stop, to arrest, to the sentence and to probation … all without, in our opinion, the thoughtful exchange necessary to ensure these reform driven measures don’t result in unintended impacts and real safety risks to Oregonians.' "
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/04/black-lawmakers-push-for-bill-to-limit-arrests-traffic-stops-in-oregon.html
HB2002 ultimately failed, but like Bynum's attempt to control fan misconduct by punishing university coaches, this measure is an example of harmful legislative overreach in pursuit of speculative benefits.
Maybe I missed this in The O’s story, but Bynum’s son plays for the UO’s football team.
https://goducks.com/sports/football/roster/ellis-bynum/16661
It was in the story. On reflection, I wonder whether envisioning the her son on the field when fans were hurling racist verbal abuse at the Ducks is what caused Bynum to craft such a draconian measure.
one of the leaders in the PAC 12 disintegration? whatever
happened to "amateur" sports? dead at the throne of mammon.
More great reporting, Jeff. An example of what could be, unhindered by what has been? (The has been, in this case, the Constitution.)
Yes!
one might be asking the question: why do we have a constitution? or why bother with those pesky laws?
They still work, usually. It just can take a plaintiff a long time and a lot of resources to get an unconstitutional law tossed.
I presume the hypothetical example in your post was just that, but I would hope that our representative from eastern Oregon could find more than a few who could qualify to at least one of the criteria.
Is anyone willing to litigate this? Seems like this is the only way to stop the unconstitutional distribution of tax money in Oregon.
I hear that at least one law firm is willing to help a plaintiff sue on this for free once a plaintiff arises. Likely should be someone who applied for some of the EEIP grant funding and didn't get it bc of their race.
cliff bentz would be a good place to start.
That would be great. Also need a Grant and/or Lincoln student/parent to sue PPS for differential funding based on skin color.
Well, there's Stephen Miller's America First Legal Foundation, but could a person ever take enough showers to get rid of the taint?
Here’s another option. They already have a case in Portland (not surprising)
https://pacificlegal.org/case/lynn-oregon-schools-discriminatory-reimbursement/
Bingo.
Elect a real Attorney General like Will Lathrop and the people of Oregon will finally have a voice!
And Rayfield his opponent is a personal injury attorney…the lowest of the low. Unfortunately, Democrats have held the attorney general’s office since 1993. Not holding my breath.
I have voted for every Democrat running, with the exception of Dave Frohnmayer, until about 2016, when I largely gave up because most of the candidates were awful (Dennis Richardson and Betsy Johnson being exceptions).
Will is the first really serious opponent in many many years for the AG's office.
In some circles in this state it goes like this:
God
Dave Frohnmayer
Wayne Morse
Mark Hatfield
Neil who?
Good to hear!
"$30,000 in down payment assistance from the EEIP only for non-citizens." - clearly discriminates against citizens.
Yes, I read the bill right before it was being voted on in Ways & Means. My office notified the W&M committee of the constitutional issues with this line item and urged them to remove it. They didn't. So, when the bill came to the floor, I had to make a difficult decision - do I vote no because of this one line, on a bill that also included essential funding for other areas of government, including things in my district that I had pushed to fund and people were expecting me to support? Or do I vote yes, make sure other essential projects get funded, and fight this unconstitutional EEIP program another way?
I chose to vote yes, while raising attention to this line item during discussion on the house floor. And, at that time, I decided that I would fight the EEIP in the public square and get lawyers involved to strike the law down.
I will not let this go. I will be introducing legislation in 2025 to either repeal or radically alter this legislation.
Thanks, Ed, for responding! Seems like a good argument for not doing Christmas Tree bills.
Thank you!!! Please fight on!
Check out the Business Oregon Strategic Plan…it’s a plan for wokeness. Doesn’t use the word “jobs”.
Jobs are a white supremacist construct.
A vital piece of journalism. I wish it could have been broken up into heads and bullet points for the modern reader. However, I am so glad of your having done this work. Thank you
Thanks, Larry. Sometimes I use headings, especially on longer articles, but could stand to use more, maybe.
Your work is so valuable and modern readers cannot manage long paragraphs.
I was atechnical writer for a bit and even when the subject was of immediate professional interest (Maintaining the electrical system in the new Freightliner tractor) you had to direct the eyes to the salient point(s).
But like Lyon sez below, "whatever" just keep working on our behalf. Please
whatever, just don't ever lose your zeal.
"Rules for thee, not for me".
Sadly Oregon voters tend to reward racist actions by folks like Bynum and Rayfield.
Jeff, I looked at the vote on SB5701, and Rep Diehl was a aye vote. Did he not read the bill?
Excerpt from SB5701: there is appropriated to the Oregon Business Development Department, for the biennium ending June 30, 2025, out of the General Fund, the amount of $8,000,000, for deposit into the Economic Equity Investment Fund...
There were only 7 nay votes.
Read Rep. Diehl’s reply above. Tough choice, but a reasonable explanation and he’s not done.