For decades, police officers have used motor vehicle stops and searches, which relied on officers saying they could smell marijuana, as part of their drug interdiction efforts. Because marijuana was illegal, the smell of it gave officers the probable cause they needed to justify the search. But now that marijuana is legal in 16 states and Washington, D.C., and medical marijuana is legal in 36 states plus D.C., the odor of marijuana no longer provides ironclad probable cause, because smoking it in those states is not necessarily criminal ..read more

Under ORS 676.260 if you are in a car crash, and the hospital that treats you finds alcohol, cannabis, or another controlled substance in your blood that hospital is required to notify law enforcement even if you are not drunk or high. This statute is susceptible to a challenge because it allows ..read more

In Oregon, the right to the assistance of counsel during custodial interrogation is founded in the right against self-incrimination as guaranteed in Article I, section 12, of the Oregon Constitution, and the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. To guard the constitutionally guarante ..read more

It depends on a lot of things, and there is no exact answer, but the following general rules apply in most cases. Under Article I, section 9 of the Oregon Constitution, a person has a protected privacy or possessory interest in property over which the person has control or the right to control i ..read more

Prior to 2022, citizens of Oregon could not expect their privacy to be respected when police started snooping in their cell phone records. Prior to 2022, the courts issued ruling that essentially said that when you allowed a third party (your cell phone company) to keep records of your phone call ..read more

Prior to 2022, citizens of Oregon could not expect their privacy to be respected when police started snooping in their cell phone records. Prior to 2022, the courts issued ruling that essentially said that when you allowed a third party (your cell phone company) to keep records of your phone call ..read more

For decades, police officers have used motor vehicle stops and searches, which relied on officers saying they could smell marijuana, as part of their drug interdiction efforts. Because marijuana was illegal, the smell of it gave officers the probable cause they needed to justify the search. But now that marijuana is legal in 16 states and Washington, D.C., and medical marijuana is legal in 36 states plus D.C., the odor of marijuana no longer provides ironclad probable cause, because smoking it in those states is not necessarily criminal ..read more

Under ORS 676.260 if you are in a car crash, and the hospital that treats you finds alcohol, cannabis, or another controlled substance in your blood that hospital is required to notify law enforcement even if you are not drunk or high. This statute is susceptible to a challenge because it allows ..read more

ORS 131.605 to ORS 131.625 are Oregon's stop-and-frisk statutes addressing criminal investigation stops. They were enacted in 1973 after the United States Supreme Court's decision in Terry v. Ohio. When they were originally enacted, they were intended to be in part a codification of decisions by ..read more

In Oregon, the right to the assistance of counsel during custodial interrogation is founded in the right against self-incrimination as guaranteed in Article I, section 12, of the Oregon Constitution, and the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. To guard the constitutionally guarante ..read more