State Ex Rel. Portland Habilitation Center, Inc. v. Portland State University

This case requires that we resolve a purported conflict between two statutes relating to the issuance of a writ of mandamus: ORS 34.110, which precludes issuance of a writ of mandamus if the relator has a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law, and ORS 34.130(3), which states that a writ of mandamus “shall be allowed” by a court or judge on the petition for the writ. After plaintiff 1 filed in the circuit court a petition for an alternative writ, the court declined to issue the writ and instead dismissed plaintiffs petition, relying on the existence of an adequate…