Oregon

Justices

• Chief Justice Paul De Muniz – Term expires 2012 (leans progressive)

• Justice Thomas Balmer – Term expires 2014. Term expires 2014 (leans progressive)

• Justice Robert Durham – Term expires 2012 (leans progressive)

• Justice W. Michael Gillette – Term expires 2010 (leans conservative)

• Justice Rives Kistler – Term expires 2010 (leans progressive)

• Justice Martha Lee Walters – Term expires 2014 (leans progressive)

• Justice Virginia Linder – Term Expires 2012 (leans progressive)

About the court

The Court is non-partisan with a progressive majority.

Terms are 6 years. The next election cycle is 2010.

In early 2009 Justice Walters suggested the court review the constitutionality of the death penalty in the state of Oregon. (Oregon vs. Michael Davis)

Also in early 2009, the Oregon court rejected school advocate’s legal claims that the Legislature should be ordered to give public schools billions of dollars in additional funding to meet the standards of educational quality that voters added to the state constitution in 2000. The court issued a mixed ruling, stating that while the Legislature had failed to adequately fund the public school system, the voters did not intend to achieve the level of funding required by the constitutional amendment through judicial force.