Former Wasco County District Attorney Eric Nisley has won a $430,000 settlement from the Oregon Attorney General’s office for illegally instructing the governor that Nisley’s 60-day suspension from practicing law vacated the District Attorney’s office in Wasco County. The governor ordered the Attorney General’s office to take over the operations of the Wasco County District Attorney’s office. The state cut off Nisley’s pay and insurance coverage for his family and would not allow him to be in the courthouse.
The Oregon Supreme Court found that the Attorney General’s office treated Nisley different than other district attorneys who have been temporarily suspended from the practice of law. One example was an Oregon district attorney that was suspended for six months and was not removed from office.
In ruling against a motion by the defendants, Attorney General Rosenblum and Assistant Attorney General Frederick Boss to dismiss Nisley’s case, the court said: “The Court finds that Nisley has plausibly alleged that the Defendants arbitrarily and unreasonably singled out Nisley and that Defendants actions rose to the level of conduct that shocks the conscience and offends the community’s sense of fair play and decency.”