Double Standards: Multnomah County DA plans to drop significant number of protester charges – District Attorney Mike Schmidt says his office will look at protester intent and find paths toward restorative justice.

If newly elected Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt had unlimited resources, the roughly 550 pending misdemeanor and felony charges brought against protesters since May 29 would be handled a little differently than your typical prosecution.

“I’d be baking in some more restorative justice,” Schmidt said. “And maybe even more community involvement in the resolution of these cases … to kind of honor the fact that they were there protesting and wanting to be heard. And then creating a venue where they could do that as part of some sort of negotiated dismissal.”