Salem-area attorneys slam Paige Clarkson campaign mailers, demand public apology

Editor's note: This story was updated May 11 to include the resignation of Oregon Justice Resource Center Executive Director Bobbin Singh from the Chief Justice’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee and a second mailer from Friends of Paige Clarkson sent this week.

About a dozen Salem-area attorneys are calling for a public apology from Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson, who they say defamed them in a mailer sent by Clarkson's campaign against her opponent Spencer Todd.

Todd, 33, announced his candidacy for Marion County District Attorney last fall against incumbent Clarkson, 48, in the upcoming May 17 primaries in Oregon, marking the first time in at least 38 years the nonpartisan district attorney seat is contested.

The campaigning has been vitriolic.

Clarkson, who has two decades of experience as a prosecutor in the county, has accused Todd of lacking experience and having a"soft-on-crime" approach. Todd, who has worked as a trial lawyer for eight years, criticized the way Clarkson runs the District Attorney's Office, accusing her of lacking"on-the-ground" leadership and needing a more nuanced approach to how the office handles cases.

The mailer was sent last week and paid for by Friends of Paige Clarkson, a campaign committee that lists Clarkson herself as the treasurer. The mailer has a picture of Todd and says, "You know a man by the company he keeps ... so why is Spencer Todd paling around with defense attorneys & convicted criminals?"

The mailer prompted swift backlash from the Salem community and has caused a rift between Clarkson and members of the legal community.

Community members have taken to social media to express their concerns over Clarkson's pamphlet.

Most recently, Oregon Justice Resource Center Executive Director Bobbin Singh resigned from the Chief Justice’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, an advisory committee to help establish court roles, policies, processes and services in the state, because of Clark's continued inclusion in the group. Clarkson is listed as a member of the committee.

The flyer sent last week lists "an army" of 11 criminal defense lawyers, including Marion County Association of Defenders Executive Director Olcott Thompson.

The flyer also mentions a few of Todd's recent campaign contributions, including a $50,000 donation from Aaron Boonshoft, a Portland investor. Boonshoft, as previously reported by Willamette Week, donated more than $1 million to the Urban Justice Center’s Sex Workers Project, a New York-based legal nonprofit that "defends the human rights of sex workers."

The second contribution listed is $21,000 from Opal Creek Capital, LLC, whose listed member, Timothy Dupell, was convicted of second-degree criminal mischief and DUII in 2019, court records show.

The mailer states: "Tell the criminals and those who defend them that our Marion County District Attorney's Office is not for sale."

It also points to Portland's high murder rate and asks the reader, "Is this what you want for Marion County?"

Ready to vote? Here's more about Paige Clarkson and Spencer Todd

In response, Salem-area attorneys, including several of those called out by Clarkson's campaign, wrote to Clarkson claiming she caused "special harm" by implying Todd's association with them is deplorable.

"You have directly stated that we, as criminal defense attorneys, are so reprehensible that merely associating with us tarnishes other people's reputations," the letter states. "You have also implied that we would try to BUY better results for our clients from your office. This constitutes a false and therefore, defamatory statement."

The letter demands a correction and retraction, and a public apology for the "misinterpretation."

"Many of us rely on our reputations as good lawyers and people to do retained work, not just appointed," the letter says. "You have needlessly and with malice affected the business of our law practice."

The letter states at least one of the attorneys listed in the mailer has never worked a case with Clarkson and two of them have family members who are Clarkson's employees.

Other attorneys have individually reached out to Clarkson to criticize the mailer, or have addressed it on social media.

In an email to Clarkson on Friday, Thompson called the flyer "appalling," and said the slamming of the criminal defense bar contradicts Clarkson's previous statements about her respect for defense lawyers.

"You have repeatedly said that one of the great features of Marion County is we respect each other and we talk to each other," Thompson wrote. "Your slamming of the criminal defense bar contradicts those statements and makes it incredibly hard to ever believe you again."

On Sunday, Todd told the Statesman Journal he was disgusted and outraged by the mailer, calling it an "affront" to friends and coworkers.

"There’s this weird messaging that's been going around ... that somehow defense attorneys are bad or evil or wrong, or in this case, it kind of calls integrity into question," Todd said. "It's really frustrating because for one, as a public defender, it’s a constitutionally mandated job … but also it’s just really low-hanging fruit.”

Clarkson said Sunday that while she had not seen the letter signed by 11 defense lawyers, she's received multiple messages from area attorneys who have expressed concern over the mailer.

Clarkson expressed regret and apologized to those who interpreted the mailer as an attack on the criminal defense community: "I can see how they have viewed it that way. It was not intended that way. It was not intended personally and I regret how that's been interpreted. I do feel sorry that that is how folks have interpreted that."

Clarkson emphasized her support for those in the criminal defense bar.

"Just to be really clear, I value the work of criminal defense attorneys that they do in our community," she said. "I have said this before, and I will say it again, our justice system relies on good, professional criminal defense attorneys to do that work ... with integrity."

However, since her comments, Clarkson's campaign has since sent out a second mailer. This one states: "You have a choice ... Do you want an experienced District Attorney to keep you safe? Or one who is supported by criminals and those who want to defund the police?

Todd told the Statesman Journal Monday he's advocated for more police, as well as an increase in police funding.

"It went from implied attacks on our integrity to an outright lie," Todd wrote in a message to the Statesman.

Clarkson said the intent of the initial mailer was to inform voters of the information publically available about the difference in who is supporting and endorsing her campaign and her opponent's.

"I think when you look at the two campaigns, one of us is supported by criminal defense attorneys — that is the primary list of his supporters — and one of us is not. And while I value the work that they do, and I think it is really important in our community, they do have a different (idea) of what it means to promote public safety in our community," Clarkson said.

Clarkson's top donors, according to campaign contribution filings, include the Oregon Realtors Political Action Committee, politician and Measure 11 author Kevin Mannix's Oregon Excellence, LLC, real estate developer Mountain West Investment Corp., Cascade Floors, The Jackie Winters Leadership PAC, Friends of Danielle Bethell and Salem Police Employees Union.

Todd's top donors, in addition to the ones mentioned above, include former Democratic state lawmaker Chip Shields.

Backlash among criminal justice community

The campaign flyer that landed in mailboxes last week prompted a slew of responses from the law community.

In a public statement Tuesday, Singh announced his resignation from Chief Justice’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee after he said Clarkson chose to "vilify and demonize" public defenders and those with criminal records.

“The bigotry and narrow-mindedness articulated by DA Clarkson's rhetoric is unacceptable," Singh said. "It is hostile to my values and the values of the OJRC, and allowing her to remain on the CJAC without consequences affirms that it is acceptable for a public official who is entrusted with the life and liberty of Oregonians to hold such a value system."

Singh said he requested Chief Justice Martha Walters remove Clarkson from the committee.

Singh's subsequent resignation letter to Walters Monday evening stated Clarkson's values expressed in the mailer are in "direct contradiction" to the stated mandate of the CJAC, Singh's statement said.

His resignation will be effective Thursday, the statement said.

Others took to social media to express their concerns about the mailer.

A statement from Marc Gun at Gun & Gun, P.C. based in Salem, said the inference Clarkson made about criminal defense attorneys in the flyer is a "symptom of a cancerous disease of tribalism that is destroying our democracy and the ability for civil disagreement and public discussion of the important issues.

"I also find it highly unprofessional and unbecoming of a member of the Oregon State Bar to publically express what I can only see as spite, hatred, and vitriol against fellow members of the bar," Gun wrote.

Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at 503-399-6657 or at vbarreda@statesmanjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem-area attorneys slam Paige Clarkson campaign mailers