On 4/26/2001, the House Subcommittee on Criminal Law held a hearing on House Bill 3934. This is Governor Kitzhaber's proposed overhaul of Measure 11.

As we understand them, here are the main provisions of this bill.

Measure 11 sentences would change from mandatory to presumptive. This means that a judge could depart downward from the mandatory sentence upon findings of substantial and compelling reasons. 

Juveniles charged with Sex Abuse I or any second degree crime would no longer automatically be tried in adult court. The adult court judge would have the authority to send the case to juvenile court. 

Offenders convicted of a number of Measure 11 crimes would be eligible for 15% "earned time". This would apply in the cases of the following Measure 11 crimes: attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, Manslaughter I and II, Assault II, Kidnapping II, all sex offenses if the victim was not subjected to forcible compulsion, robbery. 

Certain juvenile offenders convicted of certain crimes would get a review hearing ("second look") after serving 3 years or half of their sentence. If the judge decided that the offender was rehabilitated and not a danger, the offender could be released from custody, at the discretion of the Oregon Youth Authority. A juvenile offender would be eligible for second look if the offender had no prior person felony convictions, did not use a firearm, and was convicted of Arson I, Assault I or II, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, Kidnapping I or II, Robbery I or II, Sex Abuse I and all second-degree sex crimes, Using a Child in a Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct, Compelling Prostitution.

Testimony was given at the hearing to the effect that HB 3934 would not be retroactive. However, a reading of the "earned time" provision suggests that it may be retroactive.

Crime Victims United members and supporters Steve Doell, Ronita Sutton, Donna Mainord, Anne Pratt, Bruce Pratt, and Tracy Bedoya spoke extremely eloquently. 

Others who testified in opposition to HB 3934 included Clatsop County District Attorney Joshua Marquis, Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Mark McDonnell, and Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industry Jack Roberts. 

Testifying in support of HB 3934 were Governor Kitzhaber's representative Steve Marks, Director of the Oregon Department of Corrections Dave Cook, activist Arwen Bird, defense attorney Emily Simon, and others. 

If you have the RealPlayer plug-in on your computer, you can hear the testimony, much of which was very compelling.

The RealPlayer plug-in allows you to skip to any part of the testimony. Here the starting times of the testimony of some of the witnesses in case you don't want to listen to all two hours of the hearing.

00:00:00 - Oregon Criminal Justice Commission director Phil Lemman.

00:04:30 - Steve Marks

00:17:00 - Director of the Oregon Department of Corrections Dave Cook 

00:43:18 - Arwen Bird

00:48:20 - Defense Attorney Emily Simon

01:00:00 - Steve Doell

01:30:00 - Ronita Sutton (read transcript)

01:38:50 - Donna Mainord

01:46:00 - Tracy Bedoya

01:51:30 - Anne Pratt

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