Senate Judiciary panel hears update on Robert R. Parker litigation; DOJ says chances of success are low

Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson Pruzanski, chair of the Oregon Senate Committee on Judiciary, convened an informational hearing June 9 to receive an update on long-running litigation involving Robert R. Parker and the state following the 2021 passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 22 (SCR 22).

The committee heard from Benjamin Gutman, solicitor general at the Oregon Department of Justice, who summarized the litigation history and current posture. Gutman said Parker first filed a Multnomah County Circuit Court action in 1988, later moved claims to federal court where most were dismissed, and settled one claim against a nonstate defendant. After passage of SCR 22, Parker asked a circuit court to reopen the 1988 case; the trial court declined because of a one-year limit on reopening, and the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed that there was no legal basis to reopen the closed case. Gutman said the Oregon Supreme Court denied review and the U.S. Supreme Court recently denied review as well, though the denial could be the subject of reconsideration. "The one pending piece is that Mr. Parker…