Oregon State Bar sparks concerns with statement critical of Trump

“The current climate of violence, extremism and exclusion gravely threatens” the rule of law and an equitable justice system, according to the statement.

The president and president-elect of the bar’s board of governors signed the four-paragraph statement, as did the bar’s chief executive officer, a board member, the bar’s director of diversity and chair of its diversity and inclusion committee.

The adjacent page of the 64-page bulletin displays a “Joint Statement of the Oregon Specialty Bar Associations” in support of the bar’s piece. But the supporting expression, which the bar board did not approve, also criticizes President Donald Trump for making racist comments and catering “to this white nationalist movement, allowing it to make up the base of his support and providing it a false sense of legitimacy.”

Presidents and chairs of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Oregon Filipino American Lawyers Association, Oregon Chapter of the National Bar Association, Oregon Hispanic Bar Association, Oregon Women Lawyers, OGALLA-The LGBT Bar Association of Oregon and Oregon Minority Lawyers Association signed the supporting statement.

Local attorneys agreed racism and violence are deplorable, but said in general the bar should stay out of politics.

Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson said bar members are diverse, but the bar’s action has the effect of tying all its members to the statements. He said he understood some members were irked the bar used their dues to talk politics and suggested the bar could have conducted an email poll or the like to get a sense of what members wanted.

“It was like it came out of the blue,” Nelson said. “It’s surprising it wasn’t asked for.”

Mike Breiling of Pendleton said he “agrees 100 percent” with the bar’s condemnation of white nationalism and its violent acts, which obviously run contrary to the rule of law. But he said he takes issue with the supporting statement because it “draws a number of questionable conclusions,” including to the degree that Trump and his supporters endorse racism or hold racist notions.

“I think the vast majority of Trump supporters don’t believe that,” Breiling said, and the bar has no place taking sides with either political party.

Breiling is running for the local circuit court, as is Rob Collins of Pendleton. Collins said the bar’s statement toes the line on politics and the law.

White nationalism takes the position that certain members of society are second-class citizens, which is anathema to what the Constitution holds, Collins said, and even the most conservative voices would not support normalizing violence. In that light, he said, the bar is making legal arguments.

Still, he said, white nationalism is political and the bar is not a political lobbying group.

“Whether this crosses that line — I’m not sure,” Collins said. “But it’s a question to be asking.”

The bar received a wave of letters — supportive and critical — on the statements and published several in the May bulletin. Bar spokesperson Kateri Walsh said 22 of the bar’s 19,700 members have asked in writing for refunds of their dues because of the second statement. Those members will get a partial refund.

Bar President Vanessa Nordyke in a message also in the May newsletter stated the board acknowledges setting the two statements side-by-side “did a poor job of differentiating” between them. But first Nordyke made it clear the board stands behind its statement.

“It was developed over several months and carefully considered within the context of our organizational mission and our obligations to our members and the public,” Nordyke wrote.

Walsh also reaffirmed the statement is consistent with the bar’s mission to promote access to justice and adherence to the rule of law.