Justia Oregon Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff Chester Westfall brought a civil action against the State claiming that the Department of Corrections had kept him in prison longer than his lawful term of incarceration. Specifically, he alleged that the department had unlawfully extended his prison term by having a sentence run consecutively to another sentence imposed the same day, rather than running consecutive to a sentence that had been imposed previously. The State moved for summary judgment, asserting that it was entitled to discretionary immunity because the department's written policies required its employees to treat the sentence as consecutive to other sentences imposed the same day. The trial court agreed and granted the State's motion. The Court of Appeals reversed on appeal, concluding that any discretionary immunity that applied to the department's decision to adopt the written policies did not also apply to those employees who carried out the policies. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the Court of Appeals erred in its analysis, and the Court rejected plaintiff's alternative argument that the actions of the department and its employees were not the kind protected by discretionary immunity. The case was remanded back to the Court of Appeals, however, for consideration of plaintiff's other arguments that the Court of Appeals did not address. View "Westfall v. Oregon" on Justia Law

Petitioners McCann and Harmon sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 33 (2014). Initiative Petition 33 (IP 33) would make substantive changes to Oregon tax law. After review, the Supreme Court concluded the ballot title for IP 33 gave voters less information than they need to understand adequately the change that the measure would make. The ballot title referred to Attorney General for modification. View "McCann v. Rosenblum" on Justia Law

Petitioners sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 31 (2014). IP 31 ("Oregon Lottery Local Control Act") was a proposed constitutional amendment that would dedicate 50 percent of state lottery net proceeds to a "county revenue distribution fund." IP 31 would amend the Oregon Constitution to provide that "50% of the net proceeds from the State Lottery shall be deposited in a county revenue distribution fund to be created by the Legislative Assembly." Upon review, the Supreme Court found that IP 31's the caption did not reasonably identify the subject matter of the measure as required by Oregon law. Therefore the Court referred the caption to the Attorney General for modification. View "Milne v. Rosenblum" on Justia Law

Initiative Petition 30, if adopted, would have changed the minimum tax corporations paid: it would have eliminated the current cap on minimum taxes, and changed the cap on certain others. Petitioners sought review of the certified ballot title for IP 30 (2014). After the Supreme Court conducted its review, the Court referred the caption, “yes” and “no” result statements and the initiative summary back to the Attorney General for further modification. View "McCann / Harmon v. Rosenblum" on Justia Law

In a wage claim case, the issue before the Supreme Court was whether the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) correctly determined that a business entity, Blachana, LLC, was a "successor" employer and must, therefore, reimburse BOLI for wages paid from the Wage Security Fund on behalf of four wage claimants. The employees had worked for NW Sportsbar Inc. before that corporation went out of business and surrendered its property and business to Blachana. The Court of Appeals reversed the holding that Blachana was not a "successor to the business" of NW Sportsbar. The Supreme Court concluded that BOLI did not err in deciding that an entity is a successor to a business if it "conducted essentially the same business as conducted by the predecessor." View "Blanchana, LLC v. Bureau of Labor & Industries" on Justia Law

Four cases challenged the constitutionality of Senate Bill (SB) 822, which was passed by the 2013 Legislative Assembly during its regular session, and SB 861, passed during a special session in October 2013. Both bills changed certain statutory provisions of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and, in doing so, affected the retirement benefits of some current and former public employees. Central Oregon Irrigation District (the District), an intervenor in these proceedings, filed a motion to disqualify the sitting judges of the Oregon Supreme Court from hearing these cases. The District also filed a separate motion to disqualify the circuit judge appointed by the Supreme Court to serve as a special master for purposes of conducting evidentiary proceedings and preparing recommended findings of fact. Because disqualification would leave petitioners without a tribunal to decide their claims, and in light of the legislature's express grant of jurisdiction to the Supreme Court to decide challenges to the 2013 PERS legislation, the Court concluded that the rule of necessity applied and that the members of Court were not disqualified from deciding these cases because of any interest in the proceeding. Further, the application of the rule of necessity in these circumstances was not a denial of due process. Central Oregon Irrigation District's motions to disqualify the members of the Supreme Court and the Special Master on this matter was denied. View "Moro v. Oregon" on Justia Law

In 2006, the Department of Revenue issued a notice of deficiency against Tektronix, Inc. for $3.7 million in additional tax for the 1999 tax year. Tektronix contended that: (1) the statute of limitations barred the department from assessing that deficiency; and (2) the department had incorrectly calculated its tax liability. The Tax Court granted partial summary judgment for Tektronixs on both grounds. The Department appealed that decision. Finding that the Department indeed incorrectly calculated taxpayer's tax liability, and the Supreme Court affirmed the Tax Court. View "Tektronix, Inc. v. Dept. of Rev." on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this appeal was whether a taxpayer could satisfy its obligation to "pay annually to the state" the $75,000 corporate minimum tax under ORS 3 317.090(2), by claiming on its corporate excise tax return a $75,000 "Business Energy Tax Credit" (BETC) under ORS 315.354. The Tax Court concluded that the taxpayer, Con-Way, could satisfy its tax liability under ORS 317.090(2) by claiming a BETC on its return. The Department of Revenue (department) appealed, arguing that the Tax Court's conclusion was inconsistent with ORS 317.090(2), on the ground that a tax credit cannot be used to pay or otherwise satisfy the minimum tax imposed under ORS 2 317.090(2). Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed.View "Con-Way Inc. & Affiliates v. Dept. of Rev." on Justia Law

In 2007, the decedent allegedly sustained personal injuries while disembarking from a bus operated by [defendant]. Decedent died a year later from causes unrelated to the bus accident. In 2009, more than two years, but less than three years, after the bus incident -- plaintiff, decedent's personal representative, filed a complaint alleging that [defendant] had negligently injured decedent and sought damages for the alleged personal injuries. The question before the Supreme Court in this case was whether plaintiff's survival action against a public body should have been brought within two years or three years of the alleged injury. One of two statutes provided the applicable statute of limitations. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that ORS 30.075(1) was the governing statute that triggered a two-year limitation period of ORS 30.275(9).View "Bell v. Tri-Met" on Justia Law

Petitioners sought review of the ballot title for Initiative Petition 12 (2014). Because the Supreme Court concluded that the ballot title did not 4 substantially comply with ORS 250.035(2), it referred it to the Attorney General for modification. View "Rasmussen v. Rosenblum" on Justia Law