Skip to main contentWhen state Sen. Chuck Riley (D-Hillsboro) sat down with constituents over coffee on April 25, he probably didn't intend to get into a history discussion.
One unidentified man expressed unhappiness with Riley's April 14 vote for SB 941, a controversial measure that expands background checks for certain gun sales.
Riley told the man that the U.S. Supreme Court permitted state legislatures to make such a law. The man didn't buy that justification.
"When the Supreme Court said slavery was legal," the unidentified man asks Riley, "they was right then, too?"
"They were right for the time, until they changed," Riley replies. "They were right about the Constitution."
Riley's response was captured on video by someone who was present at the meeting. The video was posted at the website Laughing at Liberals over the weekend and shared widely in Oregon political circles.
Riley, along two other Democratic lawmakers, state Reps. Val Hoyle (D-Eugene) and Susan McClain (D-Hillsboro) face recall efforts because of their support for SB 941.
"Of course I don't believe that slavery was okay," Riley says. "It was an abomination, and it always will be. Unfortunately, it was legal until the 13th Amendment abolished it."
Riley says he's watched the video and—although he doesn't like the impression it might give viewers—he doesn't think the slavery question was a setup.
"They just took advantage of the fact that the words didn't reflect what I really meant," Riley says. "Anybody that knows me knows that I would never say slavery was OK."
Here's the exchange, which runs a little more than two minutes.
Updated at 6 pm: The Oregon Senate Republicans this afternoon called upon the Senate to censure Riley for his comments.
WWeek 2015