Ballot Measure 57 (codified as ORS 137.717) was passed by the voters in 2008 and imposed mandatory minimum sentences for many property offenses. The measure more than doubled the presumptive sentence for many crimes and took away the discretion from the judiciary to depart to a lower sentence, despite mitigation and evidence based sentencing suggesting otherwise. Measure 57 placed more power in the hands of prosecutors and took away judicial discretion. An experienced circuit court judge once told me he thought property crimes were harder to beat than murder cases, and my experience confirms that observation. Ballot Measure 57 establishes mandatory minimum sentences for the following crimes:
Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Theft in the first degree, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, mail theft, burglary in the second degree, computer crime, robbery in the third degree, criminal mischief in the first degree, forgery in the first degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument in the first degree, fraudulent use of a credit card, identity theft and trafficking in stolen vehicles: 18 months
Aggravated theft in the first degree, burglary in the first degree and aggravated identity theft: 24 months
Measure 57 imposes an additional 2 months per prior conviction, which can increase a presumptive sentence from 18 months to a maximum 30 month sentence or 24 months to a maximum 36 months sentence. More importantly, judges have zero authority to depart from the sentence.
Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Theft in the first degree, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, mail theft, burglary in the second degree, computer crime, robbery in the third degree, criminal mischief in the first degree, forgery in the first degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument in the first degree, fraudulent use of a credit card, identity theft and trafficking in stolen vehicles: 18 months
Aggravated theft in the first degree, burglary in the first degree and aggravated identity theft: 24 months
Measure 57 imposes an additional 2 months per prior conviction, which can increase a presumptive sentence from 18 months to a maximum 30 month sentence or 24 months to a maximum 36 months sentence. More importantly, judges have zero authority to depart from the sentence.
