Dirk VanderHart

Oregon legislature backtracks on its progressive drug policy

Scott Simon, Dirk VanderHart

Oregon's legislature has passed a new bill recriminalizing small amounts of drugs and ending the most progressive experiment in U.S. drug policy.
Oregon legislature votes to recriminalize drugs

Dirk VanderHart

The Oregon state legislature has voted to overhaul Measure 110, recriminalizing small amounts of drugs and signaling the end of the most progressive experiment in U.S. drug policy.
GOP lawmakers in Oregon continue walkouts, despite Democrats's attempts to end them

Dirk VanderHart

Republican state lawmakers in Oregon have staged walkouts to prevent passage of legislation proposed by Democrats. An effort to curb the tactic is now caught in a legal battle.
NPR Headlines

A year since Dobbs, these are the many ways states are protecting abortion

Nicole Nixon, Scott Maucione, Rick Pluta, Bente Birkeland, Mawa Iqbal, Dirk VanderHart, Dana Ferguson, Molly Ingram

Abortion access has declined dramatically nationwide, but many states have further protected abortion by enacting "shield laws," allocating funding, stockpiling medication and repealing old laws.
National headlines

Oregon Lawmaker Who Opened State Capitol To Far-Right Protesters Faces Charges

Dirk VanderHart, Conrad Wilson

Oregon state Rep. Mike Nearman, a Republican who allowed far-right demonstrators to breach the state Capitol in December, now faces charges of official misconduct and criminal trespass.
States Prepare For Possible Violence Leading Up To Biden Inauguration

Whittney Evans, Abigail Censky, Dirk VanderHart

State capitals have been warned of potential armed protests and violence in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. We hear from reporters in Virginia, Michigan and Oregon.
What Next Year's Redrawing Of Voting Districts May Look Like

Ashley Lopez, Dirk VanderHart

In 2021, states will redraw voting district lines to redistribute political power. In many places, the fight over where lines fall is expected to be bitter and partisan.