Jack L. Landau will go down in Oregon constitutional history as a Court of Appeals judge who pushed the state closer to equal rights for gays and lesbians.
Today, he's still cranking out opinions and polishing his reputation as a good judge with an analytical bent, a scholarly sensibility and an independent judicial philosophy. Voters should elect him to the Oregon Supreme Court.
Justice W. Michael "Mick" Gillette is retiring from the high court, which is a loss to everyone who appreciates his keen legal mind, Eastern Oregon roots and expressive nature. Landau and Allan J. Arlow, an administrative law judge with the Oregon Public Utility Commission, seek to fill the open seat in the May primary.
Landau is the right choice in this race.
Landau graduated from Franklin High School in Portland and earned his undergraduate and law degrees close to home at Lewis & Clark College. In private practice, he mainly represented business clients on issues involving environmental law and natural resources.
Later on in the Department of Justice, he represented the state in complex litigation involving everything from beach access and school funding to video poker. Landau joined the Oregon Court of Appeals in 1993.
During his tenure, he has written extensively on search-and-seizure law, statutory construction and state constitutional history. He also has rightly pointed out that constitutional law in Oregon is, putting it kindly, "a bit of a muddle."
People who've worked with Landau describe him as focused, courteous, self-assured and highly productive. They admire his ability to follow the law to its logical conclusions, which makes him hard to pigeonhole.
For example, in Tanner v. OHSU, he wrote the opinion for the court, which found that employers cannot discriminate against gay and lesbian couples when providing health benefits. This 1998 ruling was revolutionary at the time and it electrified the left. By contrast, he pleased more conservative court-watchers with a holding, later overturned, that public sex acts are not constitutionally protected "speech."
Arlow has strengths as a candidate, too. He spent much of his career in the private sector, specializing in telecommunications and working mostly in Illinois and Maryland. During the past decade in Oregon, he has worked as a hearings officer and administrative judge covering utilities and maritime law.
Arlow's background could serve the court well. However, of the two candidates seeking this open seat, Landau is the clear winner.