Dear Members of the Oregon State Bar Taxation Section,

On Friday, June 5, Chief Justice Walters released a letter, signed by all members of the Oregon Supreme Court, addressing the death of George Floyd.  I wholeheartedly endorse the letter and have posted a copy to the Tax Court’s home page here:  https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/tax/Pages/default.aspx .  I share the Supreme Court’s commitment to act to bring about change that will root out bias in our legal system.  The commitment includes listening to concerns, so I invite those who would like to share concerns and ideas for improvement to contact us through our court administrator Rocco Lieuallen (503-986-7026).  We also plan to set aside some time at our annual stakeholder meeting (September 25) for this topic.  In the meantime, we will continue to work toward enhancing procedural fairness and access to the court.

Robert Manicke

Judge, Oregon Tax Court