Summary
The Supreme Court of Oregon reviewed the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 55 (2010), which would shift fiscal responsibility for felony incarceration from counties to the state. The court held that the caption and affirmative-vote statement must more directly disclose the state's increased fiscal obligation, but need not state that the measure would reduce funds available for other services, and referred the ballot title back for modification.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the ballot-title caption reasonably identified the subject matter of Initiative Petition 55.
- Whether the yes-vote result statement adequately described the result if Initiative Petition 55 were approved.
- Whether the caption or yes-vote result statement also had to state that the measure would reduce state funds available for other services.
Holdings
- The caption was inadequate because it focused on the place of felony incarceration rather than identifying the measure's transfer and increase of fiscal responsibility for felony-incarceration costs to the state.
- The yes-vote result statement was inadequate because it directed voters to the place of incarceration rather than stating that approval would require the state to assume the cost of incarcerating persons convicted of felonies.
- The caption and yes-vote result statement were not required to state that the measure would reduce state funds available for other services.
Key quotations
“To state correctly the subject matter of the measure, the caption must point citizens not to the place of felony incarceration, but to its cost, and, more particularly, to the entity that must accept the fiscal responsibility for that cost if the measure is approved.” (223 P.3d 1034)
“The result of a “yes” vote is to require that the state assume the cost of incarcerating persons convicted of felonies and not merely share those costs with the counties.” (223 P.3d 1034)
Factual background
Initiative Petition 55 proposed requiring the state to reimburse counties for pre-sentencing incarceration costs for persons convicted of felonies and to bear the costs of post-sentencing felony incarceration, regardless of where inmates were housed. The Attorney General's certified ballot title focused on requiring felony incarceration in state or state-funded facilities and on reimbursement for pre-sentencing incarceration. Berman argued that the title instead needed to identify the measure's central effect: increasing the state's fiscal responsibility for felony incarceration.
Procedural history
The Attorney General certified a ballot title for Initiative Petition 55. Berman timely submitted written comments on the draft ballot title and then petitioned the Oregon Supreme Court for review, contending that the title failed to disclose the measure's transfer and increase of fiscal responsibility for felony incarceration. The Supreme Court agreed in part and referred the ballot title to the Attorney General for modification.
Remand instructions
The ballot title was referred to the Attorney General for modification to identify more directly the state's increased fiscal responsibility for felony-incarceration costs in the caption and yes-vote result statement.