Mike Schrunk

Michael D. Schrunk
District attorney of Multnomah County, Oregon
In office
January 1981 – December 31, 2012
Succeeded byRod Underhill
Personal details
Born1942 (1942)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Died (aged 80)

Michael D. Schrunk (1942 – January 30, 2023) was an American attorney who served as district attorney of Multnomah County, Oregon, United States from 1981 until 2012.[1] He is believed to have been the longest-serving district attorney in the state of Oregon.[2]

In 1981, after eight narcotics officers of the Portland Police Bureau were implicated for misconduct, Schrunk, sought pardons from the governor for 58 people convicted.[3]

In 1985, a Portland police officer killed Lloyd Stevenson, a black man, using a chokehold. It was ruled a homicide while under Schrunk's investigation,[4] but a grand jury convened by Schrunk declined to indict either of the officers involved, citing the wording used in the homicide ruling as insufficiently definitive.[5][6] Simultaneous with Stevenson's funeral, two officers sold T-shirts to fellow officers that read "Don't Choke Em, Smoke Em". The two officers were fired, but later reinstated by a union arbitrator.[6]

Schrunk's office prosecuted three men for beating and killing Ethiopian national Mulugeta Seraw in Southeast Portland in 1988. Schrunk described them as members of East Side White Pride, which he stated was the largest skinhead group in the state.[7]

In 1989, Schrunk called on Multnomah county to devote more funds to drug use and gangs.[8]

Programs championed by Schrunk have been replicated across the country.[2] He played a part in launching the nation's second drug court; twenty years later, there were 2500 such courts in the United States.[2]

In 2002, Willamette Week searched through the trash of Schrunk, then-mayor of Portland Vera Katz and then-chief of Portland police Mark Kroeker, for a story in response to a controversial police decision endorsing the search of citizens' trash during investigations. Of the three targets, only Schrunk responded with grace and good humor. A 2019 Oregon Supreme Court ruling which referenced the story established that privacy rights do in fact extend to an individual's trash.[9][10][11] In 2003, a star witness of Schrunk's ended up imprisoned himself, in a bizarre and complex case that is regarded as a blemish on Schrunk's record.[12]

By 2009, Schrunk was regarded as the most influential politician in Multnomah county. That power was exemplified by his open refusal to try cases before a specific judge he believed was too sympathetic to suspects.[13] In 2010, due to budget constraints, he made a controversial decision to no longer treat a number of illegal acts as crimes.[14]

Schrunk never sought higher office.[2] Upon his retirement in 2012, Schrunk endorsed Rod Underhill, who was elected to the office unopposed in 2012 and 2016.[15]

  1. ^ Jung, Helen (September 7, 2011). "Multnomah County DA Michael Schrunk confirms he won't run again". The Oregonian . Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference OregonianRetirement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Schrunk plans to seek pardons for 58". The Oregonian. May 30, 1981. p. 1.
  4. ^ "AROUND THE NATION; Inquest in Oregon Rules Man's Death a Homicide". The New York Times. May 13, 1985. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  5. ^ "Around The Nation: Jury Clears Officers In 'Sleeper Hold' Case". The New York Times. May 23, 1985. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Buggy, Karina (April 19, 2016). "It's Been 31 Years Since Lloyd "Tony" Stevenson Was Killed by Portland Police at Age 31". Willamette Week. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  7. ^ Snell, John; Blackmun, Maya (November 21, 1988). "Skinheads arrested in killing". The Oregonian.
  8. ^ MOORE, ELIZABETH (April 12, 1989). "DISTRICT ATTORNEY CALLS FOR MORE FUNDS TO FIGHT DRUGS, GANGS". The Oregonian.
  9. ^ Lydgate, Chris; Budnick, Nick (December 23, 2002). "RUBBISH! Portland's top brass said it was OK to swipe your garbage--so we grabbed theirs". Willamette Week. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  10. ^ Jaquiss, Nigel (May 10, 2019). "An Oregon Supreme Court Ruling on Police Seizure of Suspects' Garbage Invokes an Infamous WW Cover Story". Willamette Week. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  11. ^ MacRonald, Ian (May 12, 2019). "State Supreme Court Extends Property Rights To Private Trash". The Corvallis Advocate. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  12. ^ Budnick, Nick (December 16, 2003). "Swimming with Sharks". Willamette Week. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  13. ^ Griffin, Anna (March 22, 2009). "Influential Multnomah County prosecutor guards his privacy". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  14. ^ Green, Aimee (October 6, 2010). "Multnomah County stops prosecuting dozens of illegal acts as crimes, widening disparities between counties". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  15. ^ Shepherd, Katie (August 30, 2017). "Prosecutors' Decision to Cripple a Judge's Career Echoes a Larger Battle Over Criminal Justice Reform in Oregon". Willamette Week. Retrieved August 16, 2020.