Category Courts
Man sentenced to life in prison for 2021 Salem hotel murder
Davontae Smith stopped out of concern for a woman he believed was being assaulted when Antonio Soto shot and killed him in a hallway of a northeast Salem hotel.
Marion County prosecutor weaves judge’s election into sentencing discussion
Marion County Deputy District Attorney Brendan Murphy asked Judge Erious Johnson last month to sentence a defendant before the Nov. 8 election so voters could be informed about his candidacy.
Chemeketa Community College eases speech rules following lawsuit
Chemeketa Community College on Thursday, April 16. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Students at Chemeketa Community College can now more easily hold protests on campus after the college settled a lawsuit with a conservative legal group. Under the agreement, the college changed its policy that allowed students…
Lawsuit accuses Chemeketa Community College of violating students’ free-speech rights
Chemeketa Community College (File/Salem Reporter) Chemeketa Community College violated the constitutional rights of a pro-life student group by only allowing its members to distribute pamphlets, flyers and other materials in small “speech zones,” a lawsuit alleges. The complaint was filed on March 5 in U.S.…
Brothers involved in brutal 1990s killing will have their sentence reconsidered
Ellen Rosenblum, Oregon attorney general Twin brothers convicted of murdering an elderly couple in Salem while they were teenagers will have their case reconsidered after the Oregon Department of Justice withdrew a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case centers around Lydell and Laycelle…
Michael Barton died after getting sick in prison. A lawsuit says prison staff ignored his cries for help
Oregon State Penitentiary (Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons) An Oregon State Penitentiary inmate suffering from mental illness was left to die of pneumonia after staff ignored his requests for medical attention, a lawsuit filed against the state Department of Corrections alleges. The lawsuit seeks $15 million and was…
What a Supreme Court ruling could mean for contested energy projects
(Courtesy/ Wikimedia Commons) Two controversial energy projects in the Columbia River Gorge area could move forward as the result of a ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court. The court’s ruling on Wednesday concerns administrative rules adopted in 2018 by the state Energy Facilities Siting Council,…
Seeking to protect farmland, conservation groups go to court to block airport runway extension
A jet arrives at the Aurora State Airport. (Jaime Valdez/Pamplin Media Group). A proposed expansion of the Aurora State Airport violates the state’s land-use law, imperils prime farmland and wasn’t properly approved, two conservation groups argue in a lawsuit. 1,000 Friends of Oregon and Friends…
Clergy reported her husband’s confession of sex abuse. Now she’s suing the church
Marion County Courthouse (File/Salem Reporter) A local woman has sued the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for nearly $10 million after a church counselor reported her husband’s confession of sexually abusing a minor. According to the lawsuit, in 2016 Kristine Johnson learned that…