The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.An Introduction to the Courts of Oregon. Oregon Judicial Department. Retrieved on June 11, 2008. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol building on State Street. The building was finished in 1914 and also houses the state's law library, while the courtroom is also used by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Tracing its heritage to 1841 when Oregon pioneers selected a Supreme Judge with probate powers, the court has grown from a single judge to its current make up of seven justices. Justices of the court serve six-year terms upon election, however vacancies are filled by appointments of the Governor of Oregon until the next general election when any qualified candidate may run for the position, including the appointee. These seven justices then select one member to serve a six-year term as Chief Justice. The court's Chief Justice is not only responsible for assigning cases to the other justices to write the court's opinions, but is also the chief executive of the Oregon Judicial Department.
Primarily an appeals court, the Oregon Supreme Court is also the court of last resort in Oregon. Although most oral arguments before the court are held in the Oregon Supreme Court Building, the court does travel around the state holding sessions in various schools. All cases are heard en banc by the court. It receives appeals from the Oregon Tax Court, the Oregon Court of Appeals, and some select cases such as death penalty appeals. Decisions of the court are published in the Oregon Reporter published by the Oregon Judicial Department. The Territorial Supreme Court was created in 1848 when the Oregon Territory was formed out of the old Oregon Country region, followed by the creation of the State Supreme Court in 1859 when Oregon was admitted to the Union on February 14.
Selection The court is composed of seven elected justices, each of whom serves a six-year term after winning a nonpartisan election. Justices, like other Oregon state court judges, must be United States citizens, Oregon residents for at least three years, and lawyers admitted to practice in the state of Oregon. The newest justice receives the smallest office (nicknamed "the broom closet") and is responsible for opening the door when a conference is interrupted.Suo, Steve. Oregon Supreme Court is robed in tradition-bound world of its own. The Oregonian, December 3, 1995. When a state court judge retires, resigns, or dies before completing a term, the Governor may appoint another qualified person to the position. To retain that position, the appointed person must run for election for a full six-year term at the next general election.
On occasion, a judge will leave office at the end of a term, in which case a general election determines their replacement. If the Supreme Court needs an additional judge on a temporary basis due to illness, an unfilled position, or a justice is disqualified from sitting on a case due to a conflict of interest, the court can appoint a senior judge to serve as a judge pro tempore. Senior judges are all former, qualified judges (a minimum of 12 years on the bench) that have retired from a state court.Appendix C: The Oregon Supreme Court. The Oregon Map. Retrieved on October 16, 2007. Only former Supreme Court justices, elected Oregon circuit court judges, or elected Oregon Court of Appeals judges can be assigned to temporary service on the Supreme Court.
Administrative
The court can appoint retired judges, lawyers, and other judges to serve temporarily as judges at any level in Oregon. They can also appoint senior judges to serve on any state court at or below the highest level of court that judge had served on before retirement or resignation. The state supreme court is responsible for admitting new lawyers to practice in Oregon, disciplining attorneys, and appointing members to the Board of Bar Examiners. This board of a minimum of fourteen members is responsible for administering the bar exam and screening prospective lawyers before admitting applicants to practice law in Oregon. Oversight of state judges is also in the hands of the Supreme Court. The Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability investigates all reports of abuses and makes recommendations to the Supreme Court on any actions that may need to occur. The Supreme Court can then suspend judges, censure them, remove them from office, or take no action.
Chief justice
One justice of the court is elected by the court to serve a six-year term as chief justice. The chief justice is then responsible for all administration of the Supreme Court. Under a law enacted in 1981, the chief justice is not only the titular head of the Supreme Court but also the chief executive officer of the Oregon Judicial Department. In that role, the chief justice supervises all of the Oregon courts, appoints the chief judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals, assigns presiding judges for the trial level state courts, makes court rules, and is in charge of the department's budget. As administrator the chief justice is also the recipient of many reports from the court system including non-legal employees of the department. The first chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court was William P. Bryant, while the longest serving chief was Wallace P. Carson, Jr. who held the position for 15 years.
Oregon Reports Beginning in 1853, the official court reporter for the publication of all Supreme Court decisions was the Oregon Reports, abbreviated Or. or Ore. in case citations.Appellate Court Opinions. Oregon Judicial Department. Retrieved on October 16, 2007. These bound editions are published under the authority of the Oregon Supreme Court as authorized by state law.Oregon Revised Statutes 2.150
Joseph G. Wilson started in 1853 as the clerk for the court and was responsible for the Oregon Reports until 1870, though he also served as a justice of the court from 1862 to 1870. Later federal judge Charles B. Bellinger then took over editing the reports, and served as clerk until 1880. He was followed by T. B. Odeneal, J. A. Stratton, and W. H. Holmes, until 1889 when a law was passed that included a provision that the chief justice take over this responsibility. This arrangement only lasted a few years, as in 1891 a new law allowed the court to hire an official reporter, with later chief justice George H. Burnett serving as the first official reporter.
The first reported opinion in the Oregon Reports was Thompson v. Backenstos, involving a case about trespassing.Thompson v. Backenstos, 1 Or. 17, 1853 WL 469, 1853 Ore. LEXIS 1 (1853). In the case, Justice George Henry Williams wrote the opinion, Justice Thomas Nelson had served as the judge at the trial level due to circuit riding, while future justice Reuben P. Boise served as counsel for the defense, and fellow future justice Aaron E. Waite provided counsel for the plaintiff.
Powers and jurisdiction
The powers of the OSC derive from the Oregon Constitution's Article VII. Like other supreme courts in the United States, the Oregon Supreme Court acts primarily as a court of appeals. They choose cases that are of legal significance or to unify lower court decisions. In this aspect the court has discretionary review over many of the cases appealed to the high court. Discretionary review allows the court to choose which cases it will hear on appeal.Glossary: discretionary review. Texas Politics. Retrieved on October 16, 2007. With those cases that are denied an appeal to the Supreme Court, the decision of the lower court becomes final and binding. As of 1995, the court only accepted one in eight appeals that were discretionary. The justices meet once per week in a formal conference in which only the justices are involved to determine rulings. Once a case is accepted, the court hears the case en banc. That is the court is not divided into panels, and instead all justices participate in all the cases, unless a justice recuses themselves due to a conflict of interest or other concern.
The court also reviews death penalty cases, state tax court appeals, and items regarding legal discipline on direct review. Direct review means that the Supreme Court hears cases directly upon appeal without the case first going to the Court of Appeals. Other direct review items include state agency decisions such as the placement of prisons, placement of energy production facilities, locations of sites for solid waste disposal, and some labor law injunctions. Additionally, the court has original jurisdiction in, writs of mandamus, writs quo warranto, writs of habeas corpus, reapportionment of state legislative districts, and challenges to ballot measures such as their titles, the fiscal impact statement, and the explanatory statement as listed in the Voter's Pamphlet.
Oregon's state courts are courts of general jurisdiction, unlike federal courts.Rowe, Thomas D., Suzanna Sherry, and Jay Tidmarsh. Civil Procedure. Foundation Press, NY: 2004. That is, the state courts can hear all cases regardless of whether the dispute is based on state law, federal law, or a combination of both, with a few exceptions. Thus the Oregon Supreme Court can hear appeals for cases based on both federal and state law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court is the only court that can overturn decisions of the Oregon court, Oregon Supreme Court decisions as to federal law are only binding on other Oregon state level courts. Federal courts are not required to follow the decisions of the Oregon Supreme Court for decisions based on federal law, regardless as to if the federal court is located within the state. However, federal courts are bound to follow Oregon law and decisions of the Oregon Supreme Court for cases that involve disputes based on Oregon law, even when those federal courts are not based in Oregon, per the Erie Doctrine developed by the U.S. Supreme Court. For this reason federal courts, and courts from other states, can certify questions about Oregon law to the Oregon Supreme Court in order to clarify what the law in Oregon is in regards to the specific fact pattern that the federal court has before it in their case (see ORS 28.200 to 28.255 and ORAP 12.20).Lombardo v. Warner. 340 Or. 264, 132 P.3d 22, (2006).
Although only the United States Supreme Court can overturn the decisions of the Oregon Supreme Court, they cannot overturn decisions exclusively based on the Oregon law, though other mechanisms exist that effectively overturn decisions of the Oregon Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court can only accept cases from the Oregon Supreme Court if the decision involves issues of federal law and interpretation of federal law might change the outcome of the case. The Oregon Supreme Court is the final authority on Oregon law, and absent extraordinary circumstances the U.S. Supreme Court cannot overrule its interpretation of Oregon law (see adequate and independent state ground). Although only the U.S. Supreme Court can reverse or overturn decisions of the Oregon Supreme Court, decisions of the court can be effectively overturned by changing the law.Congress Versus the Courts. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved on October 16, 2007. Thus later outcomes of the court can be affected by legislation passed by the Oregon Legislative Assembly or through the initiative and referendum process.Oregon State Constitution. Justia.com. Retrieved on October 16, 2007. Also, in most criminal decisions Oregon's Governor may issue a pardon (some crimes require the Oregon Legislature to concur).
History