Articles Posted in Legal Subject Area Guides

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We often hear about the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) in the arena of civil court cases such as divorce, evictions, foreclosures, and default judgments.  However, the SCRA offers other consumer protections to deployed and disabled veterans.  The  Oregon Department of Justice’s Veteran Resources website offers information on consumer protections offered by the SCRA in Oregon including:

  • reinstatement of existing insurance policies after returning from active duty
  • reduced interest rates on existing financial obligations
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Last Friday, May 31st, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled on a DUII case involving “sleep driving” (State of Oregon v. James Robert Newman).  In an unexpected move, the Court reversed the drunk driving conviction of a Portland man who claimed he was “sleep driving” when he was arrested.  Newman admitted to drinking on the evening in question, but did not admit to voluntarily driving; as his arrest occurred after he had a friend drive him home and retired for the evening.

According to the May 31, 2013 Supreme Court media release, the Court held that a “defendant must commit a voluntary act with respect to the driving element of DUII to be convicted of that offense,” and thus the trial court erred in not allowing the defendant to introduce evidence that he was “sleep driving.” The Supreme Court ruled that the statute on requirements for criminal liability (ORS 191.095(1)) applies to DUII. ORS 191.095(1) reads: “The minimal requirement for criminal liability is the performance by a person of conduct which includes a voluntary act or the omission to perform an act which the person is capable of performing.” In constructing its opinion, the Court found legislative intent to “exclude from the definition of voluntary acts any acts that are taken when a person is sleeping” (p. 12).

The June 1 Oregonian article on the case notes the unanimous decision is sending “shock waves” through the state’s prosecutorial community.  The article indicates the Court’s ruling shows  prosecutors must now prove DUII defendants were voluntarily driving when they were arrested.  The article also mentions the Oregon Department of Justice may try to work with legislators before the end of the current session to ensure involuntary driving doesn’t remain as a DUII defense.

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Landlords, and others subject to the Oregon Landlord-Tenant Act, should consult or retain an Oregon attorney for advice on abandoned property, probate, guardianship or conservatorship, and other legal issues that may arise when a tenant dies.

Short Checklist:

1) Read the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) sections on abandoned tenant property, notification of authorities and family, etc. (E.g. Sample index terms: “Landlord and Tenant”, “Dead Bodies”, and “Death”). (Make sure you also check for laws enacted since the last ORS compilation.)

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The Oregonian had a story on March 22nd about an Alaskan boy with a miniature horse service animal. Miniature horses as service animals? Well, it turns out the Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee is having a public hearing and possible work session tomorrow (March 28) on SB 610 relating to service animals (including miniature horses).  Proposed legislation from last year’s session (HB 4053, died in committee) would have added miniature horses to the definition of assistance animals, and this year’s proposed legislation is similar. This session, SB 610 also modifies the definition of assistance animal to include miniature horses:

“To the extent that reasonable modifications can be made, “assistance animal” also means a miniature horse that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual that directly relate to the disability of the individual.”

 In the Department of Justice’s 2010 amendment to implementing title II of the ADA, the definition of service animal only includes dogs (though some states do have broader definitions of service animals).  In the Final Rule to Amend the Department of Justice’s Regulation Implementing Title II of the ADA,  the DOJ clarifies:

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The library regularly receives questions about raising chickens in urban areas (view previous blog posts on chickens here).   So, it’s not too surprising the Saturday (March 23) edition of The Oregonian’s Community News (West Metro) featured an article on the popularity of raising hens in Washington County.  As the article mentions, researching your local ordinances is important if you want to raise chickens on residential property.  For example, Hillsboro drafted new livestock, bee, and exotic animal regulations a few years ago and now has a permit process.  Beaverton also has codes relating to hens, and like Hillsboro, they don’t allow roosters.  Don’t overlook possible local regulations regarding building structures/enclosures for poultry (for example, Hillsboro requires a building permit for structures over a certain size, and Beaverton’s code specifies the minimum distance an enclosure has to be from a neighboring dwelling).

Other helpful resources include your local animal control office, code enforcement office, and extension service office. OSU’s Extension Service has offices throughout the state, and their poultry specialist was interviewed for The Oregonian’s article.

On a fun note, Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop by Reginald Bakeley recently won the Diagram Prize for oddest book title of the year.

 

 

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As part of their Open States project, the Sunlight Foundation recently released their Open Legislative Data Report Card.  They rated each state legislature’s website on the following criteria: completeness; timeliness; ease of access; machine readability; standards; permanence.  You can read more details about the criteria behind the ratings at their blog. The Report Card also offers details on some of the ratings for each state (for example, why Missouri scored highly on permanence). The final tally of grades was:

  • A: 8 states
  • B: 11 states
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We’ve had many patrons ask questions about copyright, including an interesting one about getting permission to sell or make reproductions of an original oil painting. If you own an original work of art and are looking for resources on reproducing the artwork for profit and/or obtaining authorization to resell the artwork, including finding the applicable forms, there are a few resources you can try (including our new legal research guide on copyright law).

Permission and copyright in regards to artistic works can be a bit more complex than other forms of copyright. Nolo press publishes a number of excellent copyright-related titles that provide an overview of the issue including: Getting Permission: How to License & Clear Copyrighted Materials Online & Off; Patent, Copyright & Trademark; and The Craft Artist’s Legal Guide (check at your local public library to see if they carry the above-mentioned titles).

Works of visual art are covered by copyright. However, certain kinds of works of visual art (particularly limited editions) are also protected under the attribution and integrity aspects of the Visual Rights Act (VARA), 17 United States Code, Section 106A . Circular 40 from the US Copyright Office covers copyright registration for works of visual art. The Artists Rights Society also covers other rights assigned to artwork creators, including resale rights and moral rights. The Craft Artist’s Legal Guide has a section on what rights a customer has when they buy a work of art.  Nolo has an online article that covers the basics of assignments and licensing.

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Oregonians who are facing foreclosure on their homes – or who are attempting to avoid foreclosure – have several resources available that may be immediately helpful. In the past few years, many state/federal agencies and other organizations have partnered together in an effort to help homeowners, so some overlapping of information is to be expected. Consider looking at both regional and national sources for comprehensive options.

OREGON

State of Oregon Foreclosure Help

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For all the talk about “it’s all online,” we recently noticed that the Oregon Attorney General’s Administrative Law Manual and Uniform and Model Rules of Procedure under the APA is still available only in print.

(We keep a “not online” list and update it as people ask for things we can’t find or get online.)

It took years to get the Oregon Attorney General’s office to put their full Public Records and Meetings Manual online (and superseded editions are still not online); so the Model Rules may not appear online anytime soon, but it’s never too late to start a “please put it online” campaign.

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If you have a fixed-term lease and are wondering if you have to give notice to your landlord that you will move out at the end of the lease term, the most important resource available to you likely is the lease itself.  The Oregon Residential Landlord Tenant Act spells out notice requirements for month-to-month leases and has information on fixed-term leases turning into month-to-month tenancies, but may not be as clear about termination notice requirements for fixed-term leases.  So, take a good look at your lease; the information you need will likely be included there. 

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon has a neat, interactive sample Metro Multifamily Rental Agreement with tips and explanations for different parts of the lease: http://www.fhco.org/rent_agmt.htm.  Oregonlawhelp.org has information on moving out, as does the Oregon State Bar’s public information site. The Oregon Legal Research website has a run-down of landlord-tenant resources, including tenant hotlines that may be helpful with this topic. For more landlord tenant law resources, click on the subject tag at the bottom of this post to see applicable blog posts.

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