Think Out Loud

Oregon lawmakers could vote on a proposal known as “Taylor’s Law,” named for a 24-year-old named Taylor Martinek who died of an accidental overdose. He played football for Portland State University and struggled with addiction for years, after he was prescribed opioids for a football-related injury. He believed he had bought Xanax and OxyContin, but the pills contained a fatal dose of fentanyl. The bill named for him would increase penalties for those convicted of selling a controlled substance which results in the death of the person who uses it. We talk with his parents Brian and Brenda Martinek, who each testified on the bill when it got a hearing earlier this month. We talk with Washington County Chief Deputy District Attorney Bracken McKey about the bill, and why he thinks it’s different from other mandatory minimum sentencing laws that the ACLU of Oregon opposes.