News Attorney General John Kroger today released the results of the investigation that led to the abrupt Nov. 24 resignation of John Minnis as director of the state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. As first reported in last week's WW, the issue that prompted Minnis to resign is the alleged sexual harassment and possible sexual assault of a female employee. Those allegations were ...   More

News When Attorney General John Kroger released the results yesterday of an investigation into former Department of Public Safety Standards and Training director John Minnis, Minnis attorney Michael Staropoli was unavailable for comment at press time. Staropoli has now provided the following statement on behalf of Minnis, who resigned his state post Nov. 24: Mr. Minnis cooperated fully with the ...   More

News Several hundred Portlanders gathered this afternoon at Pioneer Courthouse Square to continue the ongoing protest over the fatal Jan. 29 police shooting of Aaron Campbell. The crowd listened to Campbell's friends and family before marching south on Broadway to rally in front of Portland State University's Smith Memorial Student Union — near where Attorney General John Kroger was holding ...   More

News Oregon Attorney General John Kroger today released a report [PDF] covering his first year on the job. Kroger, a Democrat who won office in 2008, pledged during his campaign to bring new energy to the state's law enforcement post. He and his team did that, busting drug rings, protecting consumers, riding herd on deadbeat dads and establishing an environmental crimes unit among many other accomplishments ...   More

News Last week, Oregon Attorney General John Kroger said he would explore the possibility of filing a legal brief on behalf of the state in support of the new federal health care bill. Today, Kroger and Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced that the State of Oregon will in fact take legal action in court to defend the constitutionality of the new federal health bill. That's in direct contrast to more than ...   More

News Oregon's Public Records Law dates to 1973. And over the past 37 years, special interests and bureaucrats opposed to giving the public the information it owns have conspired to amend and weaken that law. There are various exemptions to the law. But the process of obtaining records has become increasingly difficult because of the lack of time, interest or training by some custodians of public ...   More

News The announcement today by Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, a Democrat, that he won't be among the state attorneys general suing to overturn federal health care legislation isn't surprising. But Kroger's statement that his Justice Department "is exploring the possibility of filing" a legal brief in support of the health care law — while not a "big f---ing deal" — is a bit of a ...   More

News Yesterday's news that Brent Foster, formerly Attorney General John Kroger's top enviornmental lawyer, was making an untimely exit from Kroger's office surprised many in the legal community. But Foster's departure, which was related to his conduct in a criminal case in Hood River in which his former employer Columbia Riverkeeper played a role, came on the heels of another departure by one of ...   More

News The University of Oregon's handling of its $2.3 million farewell payment to former football coach-turned athletic director Mike Bellotti violated no criminal laws, but it does show "deficient legal representation," according to Attorney General John Kroger. Kroger said today that "The most significant legal error disclosed in this review (and in the parallel internal audit conducted by the Oregon ...   More

News Attorney General John Kroger today parted ways with one of his highest profile deputies—Brent Foster, the former executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper and perhaps the leading opponent of liquified natural gas terminals proposed for Oregon. Here's the statement Kroger's office released today: Oregon Attorney General John Kroger today announced the resignation of Brent Foster, Special ...   More