EDITORIAL
Skipworth facility
needs replacement
Crime is always a hot-button issue when the public
wants more police, and politicians clamor for more
prison space. However, citizens rarely have the oppor
tunity to vote to help treat juvenile crime before it
laKomes more serious adult offenses
Voters are being asked to approve a $39 million bond
measure to make improvements to the Skipworth Juve
nile Detention Center.
Whether it's a leaking roof or asbestos contained in
the building, it's clear that the current facility is inade
quate. Maintenance of the facility alone consumes a sub
stantial portion of the operating budget.
in addition, the design of the building itself isn't con
ducive to helping offenders. Staff spend time escorting
residents to communal bathrooms, while the maximum
security rooms are on the opposite end of the facility
from the staff control room. Clearly, security and reha
bilitation aren't helped any by the current Skipworth.
When the building is falling apart and the design
alone causes security problems, it would seem that
rehabilitating the youth housed at (tie fat ility would
become a second priority.
it's time for a new juvenile justu'e t enter it's time to
replace Skipworth.
Ballot Measure 20-48 would allow a bond sale, which
would finance the construction of a now juvenile justice
center. The new facility would nearly triple the capaci
ty of the current detention center, with each room
equipped with a sink and toilet, eliminating the need for
the < urrent < ommunal bathrooms
The increased capacity of the new facility would
ensure that more juveniles can be prosecuted and treat
ed in the facility. As it stands now. there isn’t space for
everyone at Skipworth who commits a serious crime.
For example, theft cases of less than $750 haven’t been
prosecuted, but are instead treated with letters to their
parents.
Increased detention capacity at Skipworth will
increase the capability of law enforcement to prosecute
and help juveniles who have problems with the law
Rebuilding Skipworth will not come without cost.
The bond would cost the average taxpayer about S25.70
a year for the owner of a $100,000 home. While taxpay
ers are being asked to pay now for juvenile corrections,
it is much loss expensive than the possibility of having
to lock up adults in prison for longer periods of time.
in addition, it's better to treat juvenile crime early to
ensure that children don’t become repeat offenders.
Skipworth helps to treat many kinds of juvenile crime,
allowing minors who have strayed from accepted soci
etal norms of legal activity to live a life as productive cit
izens.
Vote yes for ballot Measure 20-48 With help from the
community. Skipworth can be replaced with a larger
and more adequate fat ility that would help combat the
problem of juvenile crime in Lane County.
Oregon Daily
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■ LETTERS
Ignorance
As ho regurgitate* the misin
formation o( cannabis teeto
talers, Brian Wont at k demon
sirates his ignorance on yet
another subjot t {ODi May ~i
Womack's main argument
against decriminalizing
cannabis possession is that it
will lead to more hard-core drug
use and legalization Why then
does the Netherlands, where
< annobis is legal to possess,
have among the lowest rules of
hard-core drug use of the west
ern countries? By lumping
cannabis with other drugs such
as cocaine and heroin. Womack
undermines ins own credibility
Marijuana doesn't kill people
Cos ante and heroin do Why
should anyone believe Womack
when he seems unable to make
this important distinction?
Womack's reluctance to
accept the practicality of
cannabis products also demon
strates his shortsightedness
Cannabis may or may not cure
brain tumors, but it does pro
duce a superior grade of paper
that requires less water and
nutrients than trees and the
paper can be made from any one
of several strains of cannabis
plant that don't produce an
intoxicating effect This is espe
cially important to Oregon's nat
ural resource-dependent econo
my.
Finally, Womack cites memo
ry loss as a reason not to decrim
inalize cannabis What about the
loss of jail space it takes to
imprison cannabis "offenders"
or the loss of money and time it
takes for the police to enforce
cannabis laws?
Cannabis possession should
be decriminalized because
cannabis is a beneficial product
and making it illegal causes
more problems than the plant
itself Womack may call this a
iilxiral view, but it is also a prac
tical view. Even 1. who nave
never even smoked a cigarette,
can see that
Sam Williams
Pre-Business
Administration
Disservice
I am writing to clear up any
confusion the recent editorial
entitled "Sobriety inquiries
incriminate drivers" (Of)F, Mn\
2) may have i a used Last week
in State of Oregon v Fish, the
Oregon Supreme Court ruled
that a refusal to perform a field
sobriety test could not be used
as evidence against the refusing
person in court because it vio
lated the driver's privilege
against self-incrimination under
the Oregon Constitution. The
(kiurt did not. as your editorial
leads readers to believe, rule
that refusals to take a breath test
could not Ik* used in court pro
ceedings
Two kinds of sobriety tests
exist, field sobriety tests and
chemical tests that quantify
blood-alcohol level Field sobri
ety tests include walking a
straight line and reciting the
alphaiiet Chemical tests ini lude
breath analysis and blood tests
Chemical tests an* not field sohri
etv tests As the name indicates,
police officers conduct field
sobriety tests in the field. Polic e
or medical personnel conduct
chemical tests at police stations,
jails, or hospitals
The editorial exchanges field
sobriety tests with all sobriety
tests The Fish decision only
deals with field sobriety tests and
the Oregon Constitution's privi
lege against self-incrimination.
You do your readers a great
disserve e when you incorrec t
ly editorialize alxnit On*gon crim
inal law 1 find it difficult to
believe that anybody who had
read the opinion could come
away with the understanding that
all sobriety test refusals violated
the Oregon Constitution. This
assumes that the author of this
i-iiitofi.il took the time to lot ate
and read the opinion and did not
simply rely on a handful of arti
cles that appeared in newspapers
across the state.
In Oregon you may refuse to
perform field sobriety tests with
out later repercussion Refuse a
c hemical lest at your own risk
Michael A. Frome
Law
Uneducated
As usual, Mr (Brian) Womack,
has displayed his lack of insight
and responsibility. In response
to his article on hemp [ODE.
May 2), I'd like to offer some
clarification.
f irst, hemp has teen used for
thousands of years in thousands
of cultures for myriad other uses
than intoxication It has been
only in the last 50 years in this
country that hemp has teen pro
hibited. thanks to Hearst in l‘K)7
(a media giant) with his
"Cannabis Tax Act." Check your
history books. Brian.
Second, none of the examples
Mr Womack gives of the horrors
of drugs is caused by pot; they
are caused by heroin and crack.
As he says, pot isn't as strong It
may only cause “memory
impairment and hallucina
tions." So do television and reli
gious fervor. Furthermore, when
one smokes pot. which is illegal,
one gets stoned and hungry
When one drinks NvQuil, which
is legal, one passes out c old in a
drunken stupor Which sounds
healthier?
Third. Mr Womac k is con
cerned about the message we
might send to the kids if we
were to legalize a drug The gov
ernment is currently administer
ing marijuana to people who
have illnesses with symptoms
THC eliminates What kind of
message does this send to kids
or adults? But will ruin your life,
unless you're ill. then it makes
life tetter?
I heartily agree- that there are
serious questions that need
answers regarding the new
hemp initiative, such as how
would it te regulated and will it
bring in criminals from other
states where hemp is still ille
gal? Comparatively, Mr. Wom
ack's column is uneducated and
irresponsible. I suggest finding a
conservative columnist with a
more professional approach to
argumentation
Matthew Powell
Anthropology