Lotus L. Langley (September 15, 1875-1955) was a Democratic politician and lawyer in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in the early 20th century. He served one term as district attorney of

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The state's smallest and most populous county, it ...

, after defeating rival Stanley Myers by the largest majority of any previous occupant of the office. A "Committee of 50" vigorously pursued his recall in 1932, but fell just short of the requisite number of signatures. The committee "came into being when it seemed evident that maladministration of city affairs existed, and that under existing conditions there was little likelihood of the facts becoming generally known..." It claimed credit for producing the evidence that resulted in grand jury indictments against the mayor and a city commissioner, and the recall of the latter. The recall petition accused Langley of "incompetence, personal laziness and negligence that render him unfit to continue in his official capacity" and alleged that he was less than diligent in pursuing certain convictions. Langley also commented on the lack of convictions, focusing on gambling, and placed the blame on the police bureau. Langley authored the

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

to the

Oregon Constitution The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights.

that provides for 10-juror convictions in criminal cases, ran to be a delegate to a contentious Democratic National Convention in 1940, and served as state chair of the Democratic party, and as president of the Multnomah County bar association. He was also chosen as vice president of the District Attorneys of Oregon. In 1937 he was appointed to the state parole board by Governor Martin. Langley was born in Scranton, Iowa in 1875. He grew up in northwestern

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, and described his experience herding cattle as formative. An early job was inking forms, and later running the press, for the Hoxie ''Sentinel''. He moved to Oregon in 1891, attended

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the school mainta ...

, and then worked in his father's law office. Langley's sister Manche Irene Langley was one of the first woman lawyers in Oregon, and his son

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

served an incomplete term as Multnomah County district attorney prior to being removed from office. He also had a daughter named Mary.

References

{{oregon-stub Multnomah County district attorneys Oregon Democrats