Recent OR Supreme Court Cases

Concealed Handgun Licenses – Medical Marijuana

An applicant for a concealed handgun license cannot be denied a license merely for using medical marijuana.  Drug use is outside the scope of the Oregon CHL statute.  The CHL statute is not preempted by federal law barring marijuana users from possessing firearms because the CHL statute deals with the concealment of firearms, not the possession of firearms.  The Oregon CHL statute does not itself authorize possession.  Willis v. Winters

Recklessness – Summary Judgment

The issue in this case was whether there was enough evidence of a defendant’s mental state to go to trial over the question of reckless driving.  For purposes of summary judgment, when taken together, the presence of cautionary road signs, the defendant’s familiarity with the road, the speed at which the defendant was driving, and other distractions are sufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact to send the question of recklessness to a jury.  However, a judge must be sure to analyze all of the facts and dismiss cases when a conscious disregard cannot be shown.  Morehouse v. Haynes