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ORS 161.215

Known as the Oregon Criminal Code

The act spans §§ 161–161 (150 sections).

Applied in 48 court decisions — leading case 48 Or. App. 15 - State v. Castle (1980)

Most recently applied in 346 Or. App. 656 - State v. Bock (January 2026)

1971 c.743 §24; 2021 c.84 §2

How often courts cite this section

197619801990200020102020202640
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) Notwithstanding ORS 161.209, a person is not justified in using physical force upon another person if:

(a) With intent to cause physical injury or death to another person, the person provokes the use of unlawful physical force by that person.

(b) The person is the initial aggressor, except that the use of physical force upon another person under such circumstances is justifiable if the person withdraws from the encounter and effectively communicates to the other person the intent to do so, but the latter nevertheless continues or threatens to continue the use of unlawful physical force.

(c) The physical force involved is the product of a combat by agreement not specifically authorized by law.

(d) The person would not have used physical force but for the discovery of the other person’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.

(2) As used in this section, “gender identity” has the meaning given that term in ORS 166.155.

Official source: Oregon State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Oregon statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.