Opinion ID: 1225410
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Statements Concerning the Attorney General's Performance in Office

Text: Mr. Thornton's cross-appeal challenges the trial court's failure to find that Mr. Johnson violated the Corrupt Practices Act by publishing material concerning the contestant which Mr. Johnson knew was false. [3] Not unlike state and national candidates elsewhere, both candidates treated crime and law enforcement as a key issue, if not the key issue, in their campaigns. Mr. Thornton, as he had in his 1964 campaign, attemped to portray himself as a crime-fighting Attorney General. Mr. Johnson attempted throughout his campaign to paint the incumbent Attorney General as inept and incompetent in the field of criminal law enforcement. As a matter of fact, the office of Attorney General is only incidentally related to fighting crime, but there is a relationship and both candidates sought to emphasize the incumbent's effectiveness or lack of it in this area. The following is the complete text of one of the several similar forms of letter which were sent to most of the voters in the state: The purpose of this letter is to ask you personally for your support for Attorney General. Your help is especially important because this is the only statewide office concerned with law enforcement. My opponent has held this vital office for almost 16 years  with what result? Crime in Oregon, is up drastically. During the incumbent's reign in office Oregon has had the unhappy distinction of moving from the lower half to the upper third in serious crime rates in America. Serious crimes threatening your friends and neighbors have occurred recently near your home, Mary, if not on your street itself. While crimes such as murder, narcotics peddling, armed robbery, rioting and rape have been occurring with greater and greater frequency, how has the Attorney General performed in court? Three out of four of his official opinions have been overruled by the Oregon Supreme Court. The number of criminal convictions are down substantially. And the past three Oregon Governors, including Democrat Robert Holmes, have found it necessary to hire legal counsel outside the Attorney General's office; a demonstrated lack of confidence in the present Attorney General. Clearly the times call for immediate action to halt crime in Salem and throughout Marion County. As an experienced prosecuting attorney in the United States Department of Justice and an Oregon State Representative, I am equipped to do the job. With your help Mary, we can begin to get things done. The trial court found in effect that the contents of the letters were not false statements prohibited by the Act. We agree with the trial court. Mr. Thornton contends the quoted statements were false because the Attorney General has no power to combat crime and Mr. Johnson knew this. The parties agree that the Attorney General does not have the power to investigate and prosecute alleged crimes except when directed by the Governor, and the Governor has not so directed in recent years. Mr. Johnson points out, however, that the statutes do delegate to the Attorney General some powers which would enable him to fight crime. They appear to provide some control over district attorneys by the Attorney General. [4] The Attorney General is by statute the vice chairman of the Crime Control Co-ordinating Council which has the functions implied by its name and was created in 1967. ORS 423.220. The Attorney General is a member of the Criminal Law Revision Commission. Oregon Laws 1967, ch 573. Mr. Johnson testified, in part, as follows:    I repeated, time and time again, during the campaign, and I feel this very strongly as I said, every office depends on what the individual that is in it does with it. I feel that an Attorney General who is willing to use that prestige as a statewide officer, statewide officer who most of the public looks upon as a law enforcement officer, who has the confidence of the Governor, confidence of the Legislature, can do much to combat crime in the State of Oregon   . Mr. Thornton, on the other hand, testified, I would say that the Attorney General is a toothless tiger as far as enforcement of criminal law is concerned. Mr. Thornton singles out for attack that paragraph in the letter linking a rise in crime and a decrease in convictions with the allegedly poor record of the Attorney General in the Supreme Court. There was evidence of an increase in crime and a decrease in convictions. The statement concerning the fate of the Attorney General's opinion in this court is ambiguous. The Attorney General's opinions are not reviewed by this court. The Attorney General, as do other lawyers, gives opinions on questions which sometimes are later answered by decisions of this court. There is no evidence of how many of the opinions of the Attorney General were in accord with this court's decisions. Mr. Thornton charges that the thrust of this paragraph of the letter, taken as a whole, is that the Attorney General was incompetent in the handling of criminal matters before the courts, whereas the fact is that most of the work of the Attorney General, including his opinions and his appearances in court, are concerned with noncriminal matters. An inference to be drawn from the letter is that the Attorney General failed to prosecute crime or prosecuted incompetently. Another inference to be drawn, however, is that if the Atorney General had performed his duties in a competent manner, regardless of whether in civil or criminal matters, he would have inspired the confidence of public officials and the public and he could have exerted leadership through his office to reduce crime and to secure an increase in convictions. This latter construction of the inferential possibilities of Mr. Johnson's letters would accord with Mr. Thornton's own assertions of the capabilities of the office of Attorney General. In his campaign material Mr. Thornton in a most prominent manner described himself as OREGON'S CRIME-FIGHTING ATTORNEY GENERAL and BOB THORNTON: OUR FIGHTING ANSWER TO LAW-BREAKERS. It is true that Mr. Thornton increased the emphasis upon his role in fighting crime after Mr. Johnson's charges were made. However, even in Mr. Thornton's 1964 campaign, a campaign card asserted that he was instrumental in successfully combating crime. It stated: Took lead in statewide crime and juvenile delinquency prevention and vice clean-ups. Several newspaper articles during the 1968 campaign carried the following statement by Mr. Thornton: I am very proud of our past record of intensifying our fight against crime through close cooperation with local district attorneys, state agencies and national law enforcement authorities. I also am proud of our record in exposing fly-by-night crooks who pose as respectable businessmen, and our efforts in the courts to protect our great Oregon beaches from illegal exploitation by commercial developers. Comparing the statements in Mr. Johnson's letter with Mr. Thornton's campaign material it can be seen that the letters seek to exploit the same inference, the office of the Attorney General is capable of leading and fighting a battle against crime. Mr. Johnson's letter and Mr. Thornton's literature completely disagree on the issue of Mr. Thornton's performance as a crime fighter. The matter is wholly one of opinion. The claims and counterclaims in an area of opinion cannot be the false statements prohibited by the Corrupt Practices Act. Wisconsin has a provision similar to that of Oregon prohibiting false campaign statements. The following statement was claimed to violate the Wisconsin Act:    `During the past year, 1963, Skibinski WASTED $1,506.46 of the TAXPAYER'S hard earned MONEY, in one year alone, traveling about the country, attending various conventions, and in general HAVING A GOOD TIME at the taxpayer's expense.' State ex rel. Skibinski v. Tadych, 31 Wis.2d 189, 194, 142 N.W.2d 838, 841 (1966). The court held these to be statements of opinion, not of fact. Statements are not false as that word is used in the Corrupt Practices Act if any reasonable inference of opinion or of correct fact can be drawn therefrom. Similarly, it is not necessary that the opinions expressed or reasonably inferred be well founded. If reasonableness were the test, the courts would become censors of political campaigns and would be called upon to judge the reasonableness of all campaign statements and the possible inferences to be drawn therefrom. Courts are, and should be, most reluctant to interfere in the political process and will not do so unless compelled by a clear legislative directive. We do not find such a clear directive in the Oregon Corrupt Practices Act. The distinction between the present case and Cook v. Corbett, supra (446 P.2d 179), on this issue should be kept clearly in mind. In the Cook case the only inference that could be drawn from Corbett's statement was that Corbett was the incumbent Senator holding Position No. 4 to which she was seeking re-election. In the present case the statements were ambiguous. Permissible inferences from the statements could have been either true or false. It is entirely impractical (and we are sure unintended by the legislature) for the court to set aside all elections in which the successful candidates have made statements from which false inferences could be drawn but from which other inferences of fact or opinion likewise could be drawn. This was the basis of our decision in Mosee v. Clark, Or., 453 P.2d 176, decided this date. Mr. Thornton also charged that Mr. Johnson made a false statement when he issued a press release to the effect that the Attorney General was guilty of malfeasance of office because he made a written demand for damages for anti-trust violations and represented that he was authorized to act on behalf of the Portland School District, whereas he was not. Whether or not the Attorney General had the authority to represent the School District is open to dispute. Mr. Thornton contends he is authorized by ORS 30.312 to represent school districts. Mr. Johnson contends ORS 30.312 does not authorize the Attorney General to do so and that the Attorney General can only represent a district if expressly authorized by the district and that was not done in this case. The dispute involves a matter of opinion and both positions are reasonably arguable. The press release was not a false statement within the meaning of ORS 260.380(1). The press release also made the following statement with respect to another anti-trust claim: It is also curious why he filed this case in California rather than Oregon and retained a high priced San Francisco law firm, the senior partner of which is a well known Democratic officeholder. It will take taxpayers dollars to pay these lawyers. The fact is that no law firm was retained. The evidence is that two associates of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Johnson, personally, all made inquiries about this subject and were led to believe that a well known San Francisco law firm had been retained by the Attorney General. There was no evidence that the statement was knowingly false when made. The trial court found the statements in the press release were not in violation of the Corrupt Practices Act and we concur. As we previously stated in this opinion as well as in Cook v. Corbett, supra (446 P.2d 179), an untrue statement to be in violation of the Corrupt Practices Act must be deliberately false, i.e., the candidate must have known that the statement was false, or that he must have uttered it without regard to whether it was true or false. The statements in the press release were not made with such knowledge or attitude. The judgment of the lower court is reversed with costs to the contestee.