about us

We seek to frustrate and dismantle mass incarceration in Oregon.

The Oregon Justice Resource Center was founded in 2011 by Bobbin Singh and Erin McKee. Our goal is to promote civil rights and improve legal representation for communities that have often been underserved in the past: people living in poverty and people of color among them. We work in collaboration with like-minded organizations to maximize our reach to serve underrepresented populations, to train future public interest lawyers, and to educate our community on issues related to civil rights and civil liberties.

Integrative, client-centered advocacy is our model. This strategy includes focused direct legal services, public awareness and education campaigns, strategic partnerships, and coordinating our legal and advocacy areas to promote criminal justice reform.

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Core Programs

  • Civil Rights Project: Examines, tracks, and litigates civil rights issues related to the criminal justice system. 

  • The FA:IR Law Project: Works to address systemic failures and create a more fair, just, and humane criminal legal system.

  • Immigrant Rights Project: Provides personalized advice to Oregon public defense providers regarding the immigration consequences of pleas and convictions for their non-citizen clients.

  • Oregon Innocence Project: Assists innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted in Oregon to clear their names, trains law students, and promotes legal reforms that will prevent and address wrongful conviction.

  • Women's Justice Project: Addresses the needs of women in the criminal justice system through direct civil legal services to incarcerated women as well as litigation, legislative reform, and other policy and communications initiatives.

  • Youth Justice Project: Helps youth impacted by the adult criminal justice system, specifically those sentenced under Measure 11 or to life sentences, with filing appropriate paperwork in the court system and amicus support, and promotes reforms reducing the criminalization and incarceration of youth.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

  • Amicus curiae support: We provide amicus (friend-of-the-court) assistance to cases presenting significant social justice issues or of particular concern to communities typically underserved by the legal system.

  • Death penalty: We work toward an end to the death penalty in law and in practice in Oregon through political advocacy, strategic partnerships, public education, and communications initiatives.

  • Law student training: We offer opportunities through our core programs to law students to learn about important issues affecting the criminal justice system, work on cases, and develop skills in investigation, research, and writing.