I've been meaning to write about Oregonian editor Therese Bottomly's special committee that censors old news stories about people's crimes. I thought about emailing her and asking if she ever kills old hit-pieces, like the one she and two of her staffers (Hillary Borrud and Jamie Goldberg) did on me. They called me a bigot and racist! Example: I wrote that if the U.S. Constitution had been written by Muslims, we would be a different country. The truth can be shocking!
Praise be. The Portland city council and Multnomah county commission may still be progressive disasters, but the county DA’s office is heading in the right direction.
Here is the profile of Aliza Kaplan from my alma mater Lewis & Clark Law School's web site:
Aliza Kaplan
Professor of Lawyering and Director, Criminal Justice Reform Clinic
Pronouns: She/Her
Biography
Professor Aliza B. Kaplan teaches Lawyering and is the Director of the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC) where students work on a variety of cases and projects relating to the back-end of criminal cases in the areas of parole, clemency, wrongful convictions, and juvenile justice. [In 2014, budget constraints caused Lewis & Clark Law School to close its Downtown legal clinic that provided free legal services to the poor, a move that dismayed the public interest bar.]
She serves as counsel to the Forensic Justice Project, helped create the Community Law Division at Metropolitan Public Defender, and co-founded the Oregon Innocence Project. She is also a documentary film producer — the 2007 film she co-produced, My Country, My Country, was nominated for an Academy Award, and her 2010 film, The Oath, was nominated for two news Emmy Awards.
Prior to teaching at Lewis & Clark, Kaplan was an Associate Professor of Legal Skills at Brooklyn Law School. She was also the Deputy Director of the national Innocence Project and co-founded the New England Innocence Project. She was an associate at Testa, Hurwitz and Thibeault in Boston and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Joseph E. Irenas of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
In 2024, Professor Kaplan received the 2024 President’s Faculty Excellence Award. In 2022, Professor Kaplan received the Hans Linde Award from the American Constitution Society (Oregon Lawyer Chapter), the President’s Award from the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and Juneteenth Freedom Award from Uhura Sasa at the Oregon State Penitentiary on behalf of the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic. In 2021, Professor Kaplan received the Oregon State Bar Award of Merit, the Bar’s highest honor. Professor Kaplan was also the 2015 recipient of the Law School’s Leo Levenson Award for Excellence in Teaching. She teaches, gives presentations on and researches/writes in the areas of criminal law and public interest lawyering.
Specialty Areas and Course Descriptions
Lawyering I
Lawyering II
Criminal Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC)
Academic Credentials
BA 1991 The George Washington University
JD 1999 Northeastern University School of Law
Bibliography
Publications
Governor Kate Brown of Oregon’s Historic Use of Clemency: Using Clemency Exactly As It Was Intended, Lewis & Clark L. Rev., Vol. 28, Issue 3 (Fall/Winter 2024) (with Mark Cebert).
An eye on reform: Examining decisions, procedures, and outcomes of the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision release process (Academic Study and Report) (with Dr. Christopher Campbell and Mieke de Vrind) (September 2022).
Perpetuating the Presumption of Guilt: The Role of Implicit Racial Bias in Forensic Testimony, 58 Vol. 3 Crim. Law Bull. 317 (2022) (with Janis Puracal).
The Governor’s Clemency Power: An Underused Tool to Mitigate the Impact of Measure 11 in Oregon , Lewis & Clark L. Rev. (Fall/Winter 2019) (with Venetia Mayhew).
It’s Not a Match: Why the Law Can’t Let Go of Junk Science, 81 Albany L. Rev. 895 (2018) (with Janis Puracal).
Overturning Apodaca v. Oregon Should Be Easy: Non-Unanimous Jury Verdicts in Criminal Cases Undermines the Credibility of the Justice System, 95 Or. L. Rev. 1 (2017) (with Amy Saack).
The Death Penalty is Getting More Expensive. Is it Worth It? THE CONVERSATION, March 30, 2017
Contemporary Perspectives on Wrongful Conviction: An Introduction to the 2016 Innocence Network Conference, San Antonio, Texas, 45 Hofstra L. Rev. (2017) (with Gwen Jordan, Valena Beety, and Keith Findley).
Who Could it Be Now? Challenging the Reliability of First Time In-Court Identifications After State v. Henderson and State v. Lawson, 105 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 947 (with Janis Puracal) (2015).
Oregon’s Death Penalty: A Cost Analysis (Academic Study and Report) (with Dr. Peter Collins and Venetia Mayhew) (November 2016).
Contemporary Perspectives on Wrongful Conviction: An Introduction to the 2015 Innocence Network Conference, Orlando, Florida, 3 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 179 (with Valena Beety and Robert Schehr) (2015).
How to Build a Public Interest Lawyer (And Help All Law Students Along the Way), 15 Loy. J. Pub. Int. L.153 (2013).
Oregon’s Death Penalty: The Practical Reality, 17 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 1 (Spring 2013).
Disabled and Disserved: The Right to Counsel for Mentally Disabled Aliens in Removal Proceedings, 26 Geo. Immigr. L.J. 523 (Spring 2012).
Think [and Practice] Like a Lawyer: Research Instruction for the New Millennials, 8 Leg. Comm. & Rhetoric 153 (Fall 2011) (with Kathleen Darvil). (Awarded 2012 Outstanding Article by the Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section (ALL-SIS) of the American Associations of Law Libraries (AALL)).
A New Approach to Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in Removal Proceedings, 62 Rutgers L. Rev. 345 (Winter 2010).
Latest Awards and Honors
Recipient of 2024 President’s Faculty Excellence Award
- End -
—————————————————————-
This is what structural and systemic leftism looks like.
One might say Kaplan is doing the opposite of God’s work - and while comfortably smug now - will most certainly face a reckoning when she breathes her last breath and all the victims she dishonored over the years come to haunt her. It cannot be escaped.
Also, unlike Schmidt who is a puppet, Kaplan knows exactly what she is doing and cannot contain her enjoyment. It’s a particularly viscous kind of evil, the kind that masquerades as righteous and good, and preys on the weak.
I'm happy Vasquez is coming and Schmidt is going away. However with the new far left City Council and Singleton and Moyer being elected to support JVP at the County I'm not feeling optimistic about any improvement in Portland.
The recent Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, George Soros, must be mighty proud of his boy Schmidty fighting to the bitter end. Any ideas on where the ex-DA will go next? L&C law professor, some well-funded “non-profit,” or maybe a sinecure appointment by the Governor? As for Professor Kaplan, she really puts to shame prior standard leftwing L&C law professors like Kantor, Mandiberg and Olson. Sad to say, but her antics make them almost look like Alan Dershowitz.
His friend Chesa Boudin is now founding director of UC Berkeley’s Law & Justice Center. Perhaps Schmidt will start something safe like that and pursue grants from Soros, The Marshall Project, etc.
The night Schmidt lost the primary I asked him if he would consider criminal defense work. There is allegedly a shortage of criminal defense attorneys.
“You know, I’ve never done criminal defense work,” Schmidt said.
I don’t think he understands the difference between criminal defense work and prosecution.
What an excellent writeup Pamela. As for Ms. Kaplan, isn't there something truly useful that she could be doing with her life? Thank God Schmidt is gone from the DA's office, but I expect he will resurface, like a turd to float at the top of the tank.
Mike Schmidt would have likely been reelected last year under Candace Avalos' ranked choice voting scheme. The radicals were all being turned back consistently (Chloe, JoAnne, Schmidt) until so-called Charter "Reform" came to the rescue of the Social Justice Warrior brigade. We can breathe a sigh of relief that Nathan Vasquez was elected, but without repeal of RCV, we will continue to see people like Kaplan empowered and enabled by our sad new crop of radical City and County Commissioners.
The issue with RCV, as with mail-in votes--is that the people in charge of the metrics for judging it are in office because of those schemes. Barring a voter mini-uprising (see Measure 110) we're stuck with it.
Where does someone like Kaplan come from. How do they loose (if they ever had) the ability to empathize with the poor, oppressed, victimized rather than their predators. Frankly.in that picture she looks on the thin edge of cray-cray
Excellent article Pamela. Again, a spot on presentation of facts and what is going on. So, her hair? Well, I am a catty little stinker, but I believe in being honest, too. That woman's HAIR? Looks extremely unattractive. The Bed Head look? Like she just fell out of bed? Yeah, not attractive.
I have a theory about these extremists, some of whom are WOMEN. I believe that they get vicarious thrills from working and fighting for the release of violent, potentially dangerous criminals. And a deep-seated woman hatred goes along with that. I'd say that this woman, Aliza Kaplan is a misogynistic woman. This is not a woman who values women. This is not a woman who has an ounce or shred of compassion for victims, or women victims. You can tell.
Those kinds of snarky smiles hide dangerous levels of bitterness and rage. She looks like a disaster and I'd wager she is a disaster. A sicko, wearing the costume of someone who cares. I'm glad you write these excellent articles and hold people accountable....
Oregon makes The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/04/newspaper-crime-stories
Thanks, Larry.
I've been meaning to write about Oregonian editor Therese Bottomly's special committee that censors old news stories about people's crimes. I thought about emailing her and asking if she ever kills old hit-pieces, like the one she and two of her staffers (Hillary Borrud and Jamie Goldberg) did on me. They called me a bigot and racist! Example: I wrote that if the U.S. Constitution had been written by Muslims, we would be a different country. The truth can be shocking!
Thank you Pamela. Keep it up, it is turning around!
Mikey sounds very vindictive like someone else I could mention. 😉. I'm definitely going to check out Truth Project.
Praise be. The Portland city council and Multnomah county commission may still be progressive disasters, but the county DA’s office is heading in the right direction.
In 2025, Trauma is truly a meaningless word.
Which unelected progressive activist has done more damage to Oregon - Kaplan or Tera Hurst? It’s a tough call.
Here is the profile of Aliza Kaplan from my alma mater Lewis & Clark Law School's web site:
Aliza Kaplan
Professor of Lawyering and Director, Criminal Justice Reform Clinic
Pronouns: She/Her
Biography
Professor Aliza B. Kaplan teaches Lawyering and is the Director of the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC) where students work on a variety of cases and projects relating to the back-end of criminal cases in the areas of parole, clemency, wrongful convictions, and juvenile justice. [In 2014, budget constraints caused Lewis & Clark Law School to close its Downtown legal clinic that provided free legal services to the poor, a move that dismayed the public interest bar.]
She serves as counsel to the Forensic Justice Project, helped create the Community Law Division at Metropolitan Public Defender, and co-founded the Oregon Innocence Project. She is also a documentary film producer — the 2007 film she co-produced, My Country, My Country, was nominated for an Academy Award, and her 2010 film, The Oath, was nominated for two news Emmy Awards.
Prior to teaching at Lewis & Clark, Kaplan was an Associate Professor of Legal Skills at Brooklyn Law School. She was also the Deputy Director of the national Innocence Project and co-founded the New England Innocence Project. She was an associate at Testa, Hurwitz and Thibeault in Boston and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Joseph E. Irenas of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
In 2024, Professor Kaplan received the 2024 President’s Faculty Excellence Award. In 2022, Professor Kaplan received the Hans Linde Award from the American Constitution Society (Oregon Lawyer Chapter), the President’s Award from the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and Juneteenth Freedom Award from Uhura Sasa at the Oregon State Penitentiary on behalf of the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic. In 2021, Professor Kaplan received the Oregon State Bar Award of Merit, the Bar’s highest honor. Professor Kaplan was also the 2015 recipient of the Law School’s Leo Levenson Award for Excellence in Teaching. She teaches, gives presentations on and researches/writes in the areas of criminal law and public interest lawyering.
Specialty Areas and Course Descriptions
Lawyering I
Lawyering II
Criminal Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC)
Academic Credentials
BA 1991 The George Washington University
JD 1999 Northeastern University School of Law
Bibliography
Publications
Governor Kate Brown of Oregon’s Historic Use of Clemency: Using Clemency Exactly As It Was Intended, Lewis & Clark L. Rev., Vol. 28, Issue 3 (Fall/Winter 2024) (with Mark Cebert).
An eye on reform: Examining decisions, procedures, and outcomes of the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision release process (Academic Study and Report) (with Dr. Christopher Campbell and Mieke de Vrind) (September 2022).
Perpetuating the Presumption of Guilt: The Role of Implicit Racial Bias in Forensic Testimony, 58 Vol. 3 Crim. Law Bull. 317 (2022) (with Janis Puracal).
The Governor’s Clemency Power: An Underused Tool to Mitigate the Impact of Measure 11 in Oregon , Lewis & Clark L. Rev. (Fall/Winter 2019) (with Venetia Mayhew).
It’s Not a Match: Why the Law Can’t Let Go of Junk Science, 81 Albany L. Rev. 895 (2018) (with Janis Puracal).
Overturning Apodaca v. Oregon Should Be Easy: Non-Unanimous Jury Verdicts in Criminal Cases Undermines the Credibility of the Justice System, 95 Or. L. Rev. 1 (2017) (with Amy Saack).
The Death Penalty is Getting More Expensive. Is it Worth It? THE CONVERSATION, March 30, 2017
Contemporary Perspectives on Wrongful Conviction: An Introduction to the 2016 Innocence Network Conference, San Antonio, Texas, 45 Hofstra L. Rev. (2017) (with Gwen Jordan, Valena Beety, and Keith Findley).
Who Could it Be Now? Challenging the Reliability of First Time In-Court Identifications After State v. Henderson and State v. Lawson, 105 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 947 (with Janis Puracal) (2015).
Oregon’s Death Penalty: A Cost Analysis (Academic Study and Report) (with Dr. Peter Collins and Venetia Mayhew) (November 2016).
Contemporary Perspectives on Wrongful Conviction: An Introduction to the 2015 Innocence Network Conference, Orlando, Florida, 3 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 179 (with Valena Beety and Robert Schehr) (2015).
How to Build a Public Interest Lawyer (And Help All Law Students Along the Way), 15 Loy. J. Pub. Int. L.153 (2013).
Oregon’s Death Penalty: The Practical Reality, 17 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 1 (Spring 2013).
Disabled and Disserved: The Right to Counsel for Mentally Disabled Aliens in Removal Proceedings, 26 Geo. Immigr. L.J. 523 (Spring 2012).
Think [and Practice] Like a Lawyer: Research Instruction for the New Millennials, 8 Leg. Comm. & Rhetoric 153 (Fall 2011) (with Kathleen Darvil). (Awarded 2012 Outstanding Article by the Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section (ALL-SIS) of the American Associations of Law Libraries (AALL)).
A New Approach to Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in Removal Proceedings, 62 Rutgers L. Rev. 345 (Winter 2010).
Latest Awards and Honors
Recipient of 2024 President’s Faculty Excellence Award
- End -
—————————————————————-
This is what structural and systemic leftism looks like.
One might say Kaplan is doing the opposite of God’s work - and while comfortably smug now - will most certainly face a reckoning when she breathes her last breath and all the victims she dishonored over the years come to haunt her. It cannot be escaped.
Also, unlike Schmidt who is a puppet, Kaplan knows exactly what she is doing and cannot contain her enjoyment. It’s a particularly viscous kind of evil, the kind that masquerades as righteous and good, and preys on the weak.
I'm happy Vasquez is coming and Schmidt is going away. However with the new far left City Council and Singleton and Moyer being elected to support JVP at the County I'm not feeling optimistic about any improvement in Portland.
The recent Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, George Soros, must be mighty proud of his boy Schmidty fighting to the bitter end. Any ideas on where the ex-DA will go next? L&C law professor, some well-funded “non-profit,” or maybe a sinecure appointment by the Governor? As for Professor Kaplan, she really puts to shame prior standard leftwing L&C law professors like Kantor, Mandiberg and Olson. Sad to say, but her antics make them almost look like Alan Dershowitz.
I haven’t heard what Schmidt is going to do next.
His friend Chesa Boudin is now founding director of UC Berkeley’s Law & Justice Center. Perhaps Schmidt will start something safe like that and pursue grants from Soros, The Marshall Project, etc.
The night Schmidt lost the primary I asked him if he would consider criminal defense work. There is allegedly a shortage of criminal defense attorneys.
“You know, I’ve never done criminal defense work,” Schmidt said.
I don’t think he understands the difference between criminal defense work and prosecution.
What an excellent writeup Pamela. As for Ms. Kaplan, isn't there something truly useful that she could be doing with her life? Thank God Schmidt is gone from the DA's office, but I expect he will resurface, like a turd to float at the top of the tank.
Mike Schmidt would have likely been reelected last year under Candace Avalos' ranked choice voting scheme. The radicals were all being turned back consistently (Chloe, JoAnne, Schmidt) until so-called Charter "Reform" came to the rescue of the Social Justice Warrior brigade. We can breathe a sigh of relief that Nathan Vasquez was elected, but without repeal of RCV, we will continue to see people like Kaplan empowered and enabled by our sad new crop of radical City and County Commissioners.
The issue with RCV, as with mail-in votes--is that the people in charge of the metrics for judging it are in office because of those schemes. Barring a voter mini-uprising (see Measure 110) we're stuck with it.
The worm finally turns….
Where does someone like Kaplan come from. How do they loose (if they ever had) the ability to empathize with the poor, oppressed, victimized rather than their predators. Frankly.in that picture she looks on the thin edge of cray-cray
Excellent article Pamela. Again, a spot on presentation of facts and what is going on. So, her hair? Well, I am a catty little stinker, but I believe in being honest, too. That woman's HAIR? Looks extremely unattractive. The Bed Head look? Like she just fell out of bed? Yeah, not attractive.
I have a theory about these extremists, some of whom are WOMEN. I believe that they get vicarious thrills from working and fighting for the release of violent, potentially dangerous criminals. And a deep-seated woman hatred goes along with that. I'd say that this woman, Aliza Kaplan is a misogynistic woman. This is not a woman who values women. This is not a woman who has an ounce or shred of compassion for victims, or women victims. You can tell.
Those kinds of snarky smiles hide dangerous levels of bitterness and rage. She looks like a disaster and I'd wager she is a disaster. A sicko, wearing the costume of someone who cares. I'm glad you write these excellent articles and hold people accountable....
Wow, Pamela. This is so good! “A trauma-informed smile?” was perfect.