Mike Schmidt (lawyer)

Michael Schmidt is an American attorney and prosecutor. He has served as the Multnomah County District Attorney since August 2020. Originally set to begin his term on January 1, 2021, Governor Kate Brown appointed him to the job early, in August of 2020, to replace Rod Underhill, who retired in July.[2]

Mike Schmidt
District Attorney of Multnomah County
Assumed office
August 10, 2020
Preceded byRod Underhill
Personal details
Born1980 or 1981 (age 42–43)[1]
Weedsport, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationVassar College (BA)
Lewis and Clark College (JD)

Career

Early career

Schmidt graduated from Vassar College with a BA in Political Science in 2003. He then worked for two years in New Orleans for Teach For America, teaching social studies and coaching basketball.[3]

He then attended Lewis & Clark College, graduating with his Juris Doctor in 2008. He then became a Deputy District Attorney in Multnomah County, Oregon, for six years, first under Mike Schrunk, who was the lead DA for 32 years.[3][4]

Schmidt left the DA's office and joined the Oregon House and Senate Judiciary Committees in 2013, then led the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission in 2015.[4][5]

District attorney

In 2020, Schmidt announced his plan to run for district attorney in the May primary election. On May 19, Schmidt beat challenger Ethan Knight, an assistant U.S. Attorney, in the nonpartisan race with 77% of the vote.[6][7] Knight was endorsed by the incumbent Rod Underhill and the office's union, the Multnomah County Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Schmidt represents a progressive view towards prosecutions and criminal justice reform, preferring alternatives to prison, against trial as an adult for juveniles, for police accountability, against mandatory sentencing, and against the death penalty. Since a DA has the power to decide who to prosecute, his stance can influence local and statewide cases to counter what has been described the "irrationality of our system" of biased prosecution using data-driven outcomes.[5][4][8]

Days after the election results, on June 16, 2020, Rod Underhill resigned his position immediately, to the surprise of Schmidt. Underhill noted the changing environment with police violence, Black Lives Matter, and George Floyd protests. The Portland Mercury noted that Underhill's resignation was less than a week after the resignation of Portland Police Chief Jami Resch.[8][4]

Governor Kate Brown appointed Schmidt to fill the seat on July 7, 2020. The following day, the president of Multnomah County Prosecuting Attorneys Association resigned in protest.[8][4][9] Mike Schmidt took office on August 10, 2020.

Announced formation of a "Justice Integrity Unit" on 1 September 2021, and dedicated $524,387 to staff the effort to examine wrongful convictions and review prison sentences for people serving time. Ernest Warren, who founded the first Black-owned defense law firm in Oregon, will lead the unit.[10]

In what the Oregonian called a "change of tone", he said, following protests in April 2022, “The violence and property destruction we’ve seen in Portland nearly 11 months is unacceptable,” said Schmidt.  “As district attorney, I will always defend a person’s right to free speech but I will not defend, nor support anyone who knowingly or recklessly or intentionally destroys property or engages in violence.”[11]

Long time prosecutor Amber Kinney resigned 10 January 2022, with a 7-page letter criticizing his leadership, saying that progress, especially for women, has been "set back decades".[12]

In an opinion piece published 27 March 2022 in the Oregonian, Schmidt complained about a 300% increase in case count and 150 felony cases that cannot be prosecuted without violating the Constitution, for lack of a public defender. A circuit court judge had recently dismissed three felony cases including serious domestic violence. He admits to a prosecution rate of 7 of 10 burglaries referred by the police, who in turn refer only 10 of 100 burglaries reported, and he did not mention a conviction rate in the article.[13]

George Floyd / Brionna Taylor protests

Days into his Schmidt's job on August 10, 2020, Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association wrote an open letter to Mayor/police commissioner Ted Wheeler and Schmidt, calling their "operational direction" insane, describing examples of violence, and telling Wheeler to "Step up and do your job". Directing comments at Schmidt, he called his running for office on a program of police accountability "a thinly veiled threat to indict police officers", again telling him to "Step up and do your job".[14][15][16][17]

Schmidt gained notoriety shortly after taking office for refusing to prosecute people who were arrested participating in the George Floyd protests unless there is "deliberate property damage, theft, or threat of force."[18] This meant dropping the majority of cases; by August 11, the office prosecuted 47 felonies out of 550 referred protest cases. 313 out of 417 misdemeanors were for interfering with a police officer, and 44 of 133 felonies were for riot.[17] He stated he was "recognizing the right to speak". A notable case where he dropped charges was against Demetria Hester, a leader in the Wall of Moms movement who had been assaulted in a hate crime the day prior to the assailant's 2017 Portland train attack.[19][20][15][16][21][17]

A police officer told Schmidt in a meeting that "I don’t trust anything you do or say because you’re Antifa." In addition to the open letter from PPA's Turner telling Schmidt to "do your job", Turner also stated Schmidt he was "George Soros-backed", though the union denied he said that. After the reactions, an activist described the law enforcement responses as "lashing out", and another described it as political spin. Schmidt noted the irony between his office dropping minor infractions to events where white supremacists and alt-right groups like Patriot Prayer were given a free pass for rioting, including violence against people and pointing loaded weapons.[17][22]

On September 4, 2020, Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson and a supporter sued Schmidt for an injunction over selective prosecution based on political beliefs. Both were given a felony riot charge for inciting a riot between Patriot Prayer and leftists gathering at Cider Riot in 2019. They are represented by James Buchal (Multnomah County GOP chair) and Derek Angus Lee; Oregon district court judge Karin Immergut has the case, as of September 17, 2020.[23][17]

Gun Violence

In a press conference with other Multnomah County leaders on September 23, 2021, Schmidt told victims of gun violence that "help is on the way"[24] before announcing a $1 million investment from the county for added prosecutors and investigators devoted to homicides. This is the first investment for added prosecutors in the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office in decades. The announcement was coupled with a plan for collaboration between public health and public safety agencies, "The old war on crime approach to public safety, which leans almost exclusively on law enforcement, prosecution and punishment is both ineffective and causes profound long-term harm, especially on communities of color,"[25] County Chair Deborah Kafoury said at the press conference in reference to the County's 21st-century approach to addressing gun violence.

Personal life

Schmidt lives in Southeast Portland.[5][3]

Published works

  • Schmidt, Mike (2022-03-27). "Opinion: A system in crisis puts safety at risk". oregonlive. the Oregonian. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  • Multnomah County prosecutor resigned over what she described as the failed leadership of District Attorney Mike Schmidt https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21180898-kinney-resignation-letter

See also

References

  1. House, Samantha (September 7, 2020). "Portland's New DA, Thrust into Center of City's 100 Days of Unrest, Grew up in CNY". The Post-Standard. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  2. "Meet Multnomah County's new District Attorney Mike Schmidt". Multnomah County. 2020-08-10. Archived from the original on 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  3. Joanne Zuhl; Emily Green (2 May 2020). "Meet Multnomah County DA candidate Mike Schmidt". streetroots.org. Archived from the original on 26 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  4. Conrad Wilson (16 June 2020). "Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill To Step Down". opb. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  5. Noelle Crombie (20 May 2020). "Portland gets first outsider district attorney in Mike Schmidt, part of national wave of progressive prosecutors". oregonlive. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  6. "Multnomah County Elections - Update 12 - Final Summary". multco.us. 5 June 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020. Mike Schmidt 167998 76.60% | Ethan D Knight 50567 23.06%
  7. Oregonian/OregonLive, Noelle Crombie | The (2020-05-20). "Mike Schmidt wins Multnomah County district attorney race". oregonlive. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  8. Alex Zielinski (16 June 2020). "Multnomah County DA Underhill is Resigning". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  9. Tess Riski (15 July 2020). "New Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt Must Decide Who Faces Criminal Charges Amid Portland's Protests". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  10. Oregonian/OregonLive, Noelle Crombie | The (2021-09-02). "Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt hires criminal defense lawyer to review past convictions, sentences". oregonlive. Archived from the original on 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  11. Iboshi, Kyle (2021-04-30). "Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese lowers jail booking criteria". oregonlive. Archived from the original on 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  12. Crombie, Noelle (12 January 2022). "Longtime Multnomah County prosecutor quits, cites DA Mike Schmidt's leadership, high workload". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  13. Schmidt 2022.
  14. Daryl Turner (7 August 2020). "RE: Riots in East Portland | Mayor Wheeler and District Attorney Schmidt" (PDF). Portland Police Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  15. Katie Shepherd and; Mark Guarino (12 August 2020). "Liberal prosecutors face backlash over lenient charges following civil unrest and looting". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  16. Brittany Bernstein (11 August 2020). "Portland DA Declines to Prosecute Host of Riot-Related Offenses, Citing 'Depth of Emotion' Surrounding Racial Justice | National Review". National Review. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  17. Alice Speri (16 September 2020). "A Progressive Prosecutor Faces Off With Portland's Aggressive Police". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020. During protests, police would often label a crowd a riot because an individual set a trashcan on fire or threw rocks — and then charge any other individual arrested in that context with rioting, even if that individual was not engaged in the riotous behavior.
  18. "Protest cases". Archived from the original on 2021-10-19. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  19. Allison, Megan (2020-08-23). "Portland protester's charges dropped under new district attorney's policy". KATU. Archived from the original on 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  20. Tess Riski (11 August 2020). "District Attorney Mike Schmidt Will Drop Most Charges Against Portland Protesters". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  21. Maxine Bernstein (11 August 2020). "Hundreds of Portland protesters will see their criminal cases dropped as DA announces plan to 'recognize the right to speak'". oregonlive. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  22. Sparling, Zane (17 September 2020). "Portland protest arrests top out at nearly 1,000 -- for now". Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  23. Oregonian/OregonLive, Maxine Bernstein | The (2020-09-12). "Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson sues Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt in federal court". oregonlive. Archived from the original on 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  24. Multnomahave h County leaders announce "all hands on deck" to fight gun violence, archived from the original on 2021-10-01, retrieved 2021-10-19
  25. "Multnomah County announces new gun-violence efforts, including mobile mental health team". opb. Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
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