NOV. 3, 2026 – The Oregon Court of Appeals has revived a lawsuit brought by a group of indigenous rights, social justice, and environmental advocates against the Oregon Department of Justice and its illegal surveillance operation known as the Oregon TITAN Fusion Center.
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is handling the case pro bono in partnership with the Policing Project at NYU School of Law and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
The plaintiffs alleged that TITAN surveils and investigates activists and political actors based on their political and social views and without any nexus to criminal activity, and that it does so absent statutory authority or executive mandate.
A lower court rejected plaintiffs' claims on the pleadings, but in an October 21 decision, the appellate court reversed that ruling, finding that the plaintiffs should have an opportunity to pursue their claims.
The factual allegations presented in the complaint "support plaintiffs' contention that ODOJ continues to operate the fusion center in a manner that exceeds its legal authority," wrote the court, adding that the statutes cited by the state do not clearly support "the broad-sweeping surveillance of law-abiding Oregonians that the complaint alleges."
DWT's Tim Cunningham, a partner in the Portland office, has been on the case since it began five years ago and handled oral argument before the appellate panel. Portland partner Alan Galloway has also contributed.
Says Cunningham: "The freedom to advance political causes and engage in constitutionally protected speech on the critical subjects of the day, free of government intrusion, is one of our most cherished rights and I look forward to vindicating those rights for our clients in the next stage of this case."
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