Our vision: A just Oregon where all can thrive
Since 2011, the Oregon Justice Resource Center has been working to end mass incarceration in Oregon. Our goal is to promote civil rights and improve legal representation for communities that have often been under-served in the past including BIPOC and low-income Oregonians.
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 for change.
We have six core programs through which we provide the majority of our legal services:
Our 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.
Our Immigrant Rights Project provides personalized advice to Oregon public defense providers regarding the immigration consequences of pleas and convictions for their non-citizen clients.
The 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.
Our 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.
Our 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.
Beyond these six programs, we also 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. 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. 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.
Too often, Oregonians in prison or jail are forgotten and neglected by our criminal legal and punishment systems. We strive to ensure that doesn’t happen by fiercely advocating for their rights.
To learn more about what we’ve been working on recently, read our annual report.