Richard Unis, a former Oregon Supreme Court justice known as a forceful jurist and national expert on the use of evidence, has died. He was 87.
During his nearly quarter-century as a trial court judge in Portland, Unis was known for his exemplary scholarship, fairness and diligence, as well as for being a nutrition and fitness buff. He drank raw carrot juice every day, long before juicers became common, and he played a near-daily game of full-court basketball with other lawyers and judges.
During his six years on the Supreme Court during the 1990s, he was known for his forceful positions on legal issues and his deep experience presiding at trials, said Wallace Carson, whose 14 years at Oregon's chief justice overlapped with Unis' final five on the Supreme Court.
"He had great intelligence," Carson said Saturday. "He was always very outspoken, very well-spoken. You didn't have any question of where Dick Unis stood."
Unis died Feb. 10 from complications of a stroke, said his daughter, Lori Unis Ryland.
Robert Durham, whose 19 years as a Supreme Court justice overlapped with Unis' final three, said of Unis: "He was one of the most respectful judges of our Oregon Constitution that I ever encountered. He was calm and deliberate but resolute in his insistence that the court not deviate from the guarantees imparted by the Oregon Constitution, particularly free speech and the rights of the criminally accused."
Unis was an extremely hard worker and a national expert on the use of evidence in trials. Durham remembers seeing him at law libraries as late as 11 p.m. "He was extremely dedicated to being prepared to the nth degree."
He was also, Durham said, "one of the strongest people ever to serve on the Oregon Supreme Court, literally."
The two men worked out together regularly when Unis was in his mid-60s, and Unis could bench press 300 pounds or more, Durham said. "He was a terrific athlete who remained in excellent condition throughout his life."
He was well-known for his outstanding passing skills on the basketball court, his ability to do power sit-ups and his fondness for drinking garlic-juice-infused fruit drinks and other healthy concoctions, Durham said.
Unis used his vigor to stand up for marginalized people, Durham said.
"His voice was a voice of conscience for the justices on the Oregon Supreme Court. His was a constant reminder to provide a level playing field for the downtrodden and for unpopular defendants."
Unis helped voters retain the right to vote on a proposed sales tax in 1993 when the Supreme Court ruled on a challenge to that measure.
But he was unable to garner a court majority in a 1992 free-speech case brought by a City of Portland employee who protested a city requirement that waste water plant workers not wear beards.
Defense attorneys weren't the only ones who admired Unis's legal skills and demeanor. A 1993 article in The Oregonian called Unis "one of the best-liked trial judges in the history of Multnomah County."
In 1993, The Oregonian's courts reporter Fred Leeson wrote, "For the fifth time in the past 13 years, Unis was ranked at the top of a judicial survey conducted among lawyers either by the Oregon State Bar or by The Oregonian. 'He's head and shoulders above the rest,' wrote one lawyer who participated in The Oregonian's recent judicial performance survey, summing up the opinions of several other lawyers who described Unis simply as the 'ideal' judge."
Leeson wrote further: "Compassionate, legally astute, a judge who listens to all parties, explains his decisions, keeps his own opinions to himself, reasons well, doesn't play favorites among lawyers and works hard -- that's how lawyers described Unis."
A lifelong Oregonian, Unis lived more than 30 years with his wife, Gloria, at a home along the Sandy River on the Historic Columbia River Highway. He passed away at at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham.
Born in 1928, he was raised in Portland and graduated from Franklin High School. He attended the University of Oregon on a full basketball scholarship and went on to earn his law degree from the UO law school in 1953. He served in the U.S. Air Force.
In 1968, Unis became a judge in what was then Portland Municipal Court. He remained a judge as the local court became Multnomah County District Court, then Multnomah County Circuit Court.
During that time, to stay current on the law, Unis would make daily checks at the court's law library -- a practice he called his morning ''treasure hunt'' -- to see new law review articles and court decisions before they hit the library's shelves.
Beginning in 1969, he also taught law classes at Lewis & Clark's law school and was considered an expert on use of evidence. Unis often fielded phone calls from other judges both in state and federal courts when they were facing difficult questions about the admissibility of evidence. He also taught for nearly two decades at the National Judicial College in Reno, where trial court judges from across the country came to learn.
In 1990, then-Gov. Neil Goldschmidt appointed Unis to the Supreme Court, and he won election to a full six-year term later that year. He retired at 67 after one term, saying he wanted to depart the court while he was "still happy doing it." Then-Attorney General Ted Kulongoski ran for and won Unis' vacated seat on the high court.
In 1999, Unis was awarded a national law group's Herbert Harley award, which is presented periodically to individuals who make outstanding efforts and contributions that substantially improve the administration of justice in their states. He was the first Oregonian to win it.
Upon retirement from the Supreme Court, Unis agreed to preside as special master in a complex and long-running multimillion-dollar federal class-action settlement between then-Portland-based Louisiana-Pacific and nearly 160,000 homeowners nationwide who blamed the company for making faulty siding. The case ended up taking more than seven years, and Unis dealt with his share of controversy.
In the end, Unis told The Oregonian that the settlement worked out extremely well. "This whole settlement has turned out to be tremendous for the consumer," he said.
In addition to his wife of 62 years, Unis is survived by a son, Maurice; his daughter; a sister, Eva; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
A celebration of life gathering will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Shirley's Tippy Canoe Resturant, 28242 Historic Columbia River Highway in Troutdale.
-- Betsy Hammond