Appeals court freezes Oregon judge's 7-day jail limit order

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A federal order that would’ve required authorities to release Oregon detainees who don’t have legal representation — after an initial court appearance and a week in jail — is still up in the air.

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane ordered counties statewide to implement the seven-day jail limit in early November, and it was set to go into effect on Nov. 16. But on Monday, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion to stay the order.

Now, both sides are scheduled to submit briefs in support of or against McShane’s order on Dec. 8 and Dec. 22. There’s also an optional brief with a deadline of Jan. 5 of next year, and an optional reply brief due on Jan. 16.

A panel of judges is set to vote on the jail limit in February of next year.

“In granting a stay, we do not intend to constrain the merits panel’s consideration of the merits of these cross-appeals in any way,” the appeals court said.

Judge McShane’s November order follows a similar one from August. At that point, the limit solely applied to pre-trial defendants in Washington County who had been in jail for 10 days.

Both orders stem from Oregon’s public defender shortage, a statewide crisis that the judge said leaves pre-trial defendants “locked away without a voice, being too poor to afford an advocate to speak for them in the courtroom.”

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt also deemed the public defender shortage an ‘urgent threat to public safety’ in a statement he made earlier this month.

“This sends a message to crime victims in our community that justice is unavailable and their harm will go unaddressed,” Schmidt said. “It also sends a message to individuals who have committed a crime that there is no accountability while burning through scarce police and prosecutor resources.”

According to the DA’s Office, 285 cases have been dismissed so far this year due to the statewide crisis.