There is a difference between representing criminal defendants in Ohio and in Oregon, and I'm still unraveling it all the subtlties, but here are some big distincitons:1. Ohio was all about crack. Oregon is all about meth.
2. Oregon has several federal prisons, whereas Ohio only had one and that wasn't in my district. So now I am getting more cases that are federal because they arose on federal property: the prisons.
3. Lots more spanish speaking clients in Oregon. So much so that the office has a full time interpreter.
4. Ohio prosecutors fully expected you to file preliminary motions, like motions to suppress on 4th amd grounds. Oregon prosecutors treat motion practice as some sort of wild-eyed, hardheaded, unreasonable tactic that terminates negotiations.
5. Oregon has Native American reservations and many Native clients. Nothing going on like that in Ohio. I'm working on educating myself about Native issues and various tribes so i won't be completely ignorant.
6. In Oregon the federal court seems a lot bigger that what was going on in Columbus. Many more judges and magistrates. Which is good if it means they can take the time to give habeas cases thorough review.
1 comment:
yep, I have noticed the federal spanish meth indian many judges angle here too, very very different. the motion thingy is super interesting, very west-coast?
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