Any year now

The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled last week that Measure 114, the 2022 gun control ballot measure that narrowly passed, is constitutional. The appeals court reversed some judge out in Greater Idaho who found problems with it.

It's taken something like 855 days to get to this stage of the legal proceedings, and they're not over yet. The Oregon Supreme Court could take the case and add another six to 12 months, or more, of waiting time before the law that was passed actually gets implemented.

It's a disgrace.

For all the jabbering about democracy you hear these days, it's an absolute scandal that it takes this long to get answers from the Oregon judges on the validity of a ballot measure that passed. There ought to be a law that all constitutional challenges to enacted statewide ballot measures must be heard and decided by the Oregon Supreme Court within 120 days, or even 90 days, after the election. The justices can take all the years they want to write their lofty opinions, but there ought to be a short deadline for a decision and a final judgment.

And skip the Court of Appeals entirely. For whatever reason, that crew is slower than the DMV on a Monday.

Of course, the reform I'm suggesting will never happen given the bobbleheads we have in the Legislature. They'd never pass such a law. Too busy protecting the PERS and feeding their union and construction pals. Lew Frederick? Khanh Pham? Farrah Chaichi? Forget I mentioned it.