Michael Schmidt (born 1980/1981)[1] is an American attorney and a progressive prosecutor.[2][3] 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 2020,to replace Rod Underhill,who retired in July.[4] Schmidt will be succeeded by Nathan Vasquez on January 1,2025 at the end of his term after conceding loss in the primary election in May 2024.[5][6]
In 2013,Schmidt left the District Attorney's office and became counsel for the Oregon House and Senate Judiciary Committees. In 2015,then-Governor John Kitzhaber appointed Schmidt as Executive Director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission.[8][9]
District attorney
In 2020,Schmidt announced that he would run for Multnomah County District Attorney. Then-District Attorney Rod Underhill did not seek reelection. Schmidt ran against Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight,who earned Underhill's endorsement.[7] During the campaign,Schmidt was endorsed by many top Oregon Democrats,including Tina Kotek,Earl Blumenauer,and Jo Ann Hardesty.[7] Schmidt defeated Knight with a 76.6% vote.[7]
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.[9][8][10]
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.[10][8]
Governor Kate Brown appointed Schmidt to fill the seat on July 7,2020.[10][8] The following day,the president of Multnomah County Prosecuting Attorneys Association resigned.[11] Mike Schmidt took office on August 1,2020.[10][8]
Announced formation of a "Justice Integrity Unit" on September 1,2021,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.[12]
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.”[13]
Long time prosecutor Amber Kinney resigned January 10,2022,with a 7-page letter criticizing his leadership,saying that progress,especially for women,has been "set back decades".[14]
In an opinion piece published March 27,2022,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.[15]
George Floyd / Breonna Taylor protests
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."[16][17][18] Of the 550 cases referred by police as of August 10,including 417 misdemeanors and 133 felonies,Schmidt planned to prosecute only 47 cases,all felonies.[17] In an August 11 announcement Schmidt characterized the policy as "recognizing the right to speak" while emphasizing that it was not a free pass to commit acts of violence.[19] A notable case where charges were dropped was against Demetria Hester,a leader in the Wall of Moms movement.[19]
In an open letter published on August 7,Portland Police Association president Daryl Turner called on both Schmidt and mayor Ted Wheeler to "step up and do your job",calling their operational direction "insane" and describing Schmidt's platform of police accountability as "a thinly veiled threat to indict police officers".[20][18] In a meeting,a police officer reportedly told Schmidt "I don’t trust anything you do or say because you’re antifa."[21][22] Turner also stated that Schmidt was "George Soros-backed",though a union representative denied that he said that.[21][22] An activist described the law enforcement responses as "lashing out",and another described it as political spin.[21] Schmidt stated that he thought it was ironic that police criticized his office for dropping minor infractions while their own officers ignored crimes committed by armed white supremacists.[21]
On September 4,2020,Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson and a supporter sued Schmidt,seeking an injunction to halt their prosecution for inciting a riot between left and right wing protestors at Cider Riot in 2019.[23] In the suit,Gibson alleged selective prosecution based on political beliefs after Schmidt refused to drop his own riot charge despite dropping other charges for George Floyd protesters.[23] The case was later dismissed.[24]
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"[25] 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,"[26] County Chair Deborah Kafoury said at the press conference in reference to the County's 21st-century approach to addressing gun violence.
Drug decriminalization
Schmidt endorsed Ballot Measure 110 in 2020,which removed criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of all drugs.[27] On December 17,after voters approved the measure,Schmidt announced he would implement the changes immediately,several months before the measure took effect statewide on February 1,2021.[28]
In late 2023,as polling showed declining public support for Measure 110 and multiple groups began efforts to repeal the measure,Schmidt continued to oppose criminal penalties for simple possession.[29] Instead,he advocated for proposals to criminalize public consumption of drugs and to make it easier to prosecute drug dealers.[29]
On February 26,2024,Schmidt testified in support of a proposal by the Oregon Legislative Assembly to reinstate criminal penalties for possession of hard drugs.[30] Citing the recent impact of fentanyl[broken anchor],Schmidt stated that “we can approach addiction as the health issue it is,while also holding people accountable.”[30]
Re-election loss
Schmidt lost his reelection bid to Nathan Vasquez in the Primary. Vasquez,a prosecutor in Schmitz’s office,ran against Schmidt,challenging his progressive stance.[31]
Personal life
Schmidt lives in Southeast Portland.[9] He is married to Clare Schmidt.[32]
Samuel Francis Adams is an American politician in Portland, Oregon. Adams was mayor of Portland from 2009 to 2012 and previously served on the Portland City Council and as chief of staff to former Mayor Vera Katz. Adams was the first openly gay mayor of a large U.S. city. He had an approval rating of 56%.
Jules Bailey is an American politician who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2009 to 2014, representing inner Southeast and Northeast Portland. Bailey also served on the County Commission for Multnomah County, Oregon from June 2014 to December 2016. In 2016, Bailey ran for mayor of Portland in 2016, losing to Ted Wheeler.
Edward Tevis Wheeler is an American politician who has served as the mayor of Portland, Oregon since 2017. He was Oregon State Treasurer from 2010 to 2016.
The Portland Police Bureau (PPB), officially the Portland Bureau of Police, is the law enforcement agency of the city of Portland, the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. While oversight of Portland's bureaus shifts among the five City Commissioners, the mayor has historically been assigned to the Police Bureau as the police commissioner.
United States v. City of Portland was a lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice against the City of Portland, Oregon on December 17, 2012, alleging a pattern or practice of unconstitutional use of force by the Portland Police Bureau against individuals with actual or perceived mental illness.
Joseph Owan Gibson is an American right-wing activist and the founder of the far-right group Patriot Prayer, which is active in Portland, Oregon and other cities within the Pacific Northwest.
Cider Riot was an American cider producer with a cider house in the Kerns neighborhood in Northeast Portland, Oregon, from 2016 until November 2019.
Starting in May 2020, protests following the murder of George Floyd were held in the city of Portland, Oregon, concurrent with protests in other cities in the United States and around the world. By July 2020, many of the protests, which had been held every day since May 28, drew more than 1,000 participants. Protests continued into August, September, and October 2020, often drawing hundreds.
Michael Reese is an American law enforcement officer who currently serves as Director of the Oregon Department of Corrections. He previously served as the 40th sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon (2016–2022), and Chief of the Portland Police Bureau.
Michael D. Schrunk was an American attorney who served as district attorney of Multnomah County, Oregon, United States from 1981 until 2012. He is believed to have been the longest-serving district attorney in the state of Oregon.
James Buchal was chair of the Multnomah County, Oregon Republican Party. He won the Republican nomination for Oregon Attorney General in 2012 on a write-in campaign, but lost in the general election. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States Congress in 2014. He has spoken strongly in favor of U.S. president Donald Trump. He has served as a lawyer for the far right group Patriot Prayer and against gun control walkouts at Portland Public Schools, has spoken on national television against Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, A statement Buchal made on a campaign website in 2014 has been rated "false" by PolitiFact.
The Red House eviction defense was an occupation protest at a foreclosed house on North Mississippi Avenue in the Humboldt neighborhood in the Albina district, a historically Black district of Portland, Oregon, United States.
Robert Douglas Delgado was an American living in Portland, Oregon, when he was shot and killed by Portland Police Bureau officer Zachary DeLong after spending a night in Lents Park.
Demetria Hester is a Black activist, speaker, and hate crime survivor based in Portland, Oregon. She is a frequent organizer of and speaker at Portland's George Floyd protests, Black Lives Matter rallies, and vigils for victims of police violence.
On February 19, 2022, Benjamin Jeffrey Smith approached and assaulted a small group of women, at the edge of Normandale Park in Portland, Oregon, United States. He murdered one, caused the paralysis of another from the shoulders down, and seriously injured three others, including a bystander who had approached to deescalate.
The Multnomah County Circuit Court, which composes the 4th Judicial District of the Oregon Circuit Court system, is the general jurisdiction trial court of Multnomah County, Oregon. Judith Matarazzo is the presiding judge of the Court, serving with 37 others. The chief prosecutor is Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt.
Rod Underhill was the Multnomah County District Attorney from 2012 to 2020. He ran unopposed in 2012, having been endorsed by his predecessor Mike Schrunk. Unopposed again in 2016, he resigned the office to Mike Schmidt after the George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon began, shortly before his term was about to expire.
The 2024 Multnomah County District Attorney election was held on May 21, 2024, to elect the district attorney of Multnomah County, Oregon, which includes the state's largest city, Portland.
The 2020 Multnomah County District Attorney election was held on May 19, 2020, concurrent with the 2020 statewide general elections, to elect the District Attorney of Multnomah County, Oregon, which includes the major city of Portland.
Nathan Vasquez is an American attorney who is the District Attorney-elect of Multnomah County, Oregon. In the May 2024 election, Vasquez defeated incumbent Mike Schmidt, who was previously his superior in the department.
1 2 3 4 Alice Speri (September 16, 2020). "A Progressive Prosecutor Faces Off With Portland's Aggressive Police". The Intercept. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 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.
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