4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| JUNE 26, 2019
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press, or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Govern-
ment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
The dangers of co-mingling prisons,
detention centers and politics
cent, men and women of- of all the children who en-
tered into family detention
ten spend weeks, months
facilities in that time were
and sometimes years in
six years old or younger.
prison awaiting trial for
In an interview last
And that was before the
non-violent crimes, losing
May on NPR, Homeland
“Zero Tolerance” posture
their jobs, homes and
Security Secretary Kirstjen custody of their children
first taken by past Attor-
Nielsen compared the
ney General Jeff Sessions,
before they’ve even had a
Trump administration’s
chance to plead their case. which compounded the
“Zero Tolerance” policy to
problem by demanding
The fact is, the current
the same policy experi-
“law and order” approach enforcement without the
enced by incarcerated
necessary resources to do
isn’t new either. It was
Americans every day in
this country who are sepa-
rated from their children.
“If you break the law,
Ned Hickson
you will be prosecuted. It’s
no different than what we
do every day in every part echoed by President
so humanely — a situation
of the United States when Nixon in the late 1960s, as that still continues.
an adult commits a crime,” well as Presidents Reagan
But this is not a prob-
Nielsen said. “We’re fol-
lem that is unique to the
and Clinton and their at-
lowing that same policy at tempts to combat the drug Trump administration,
our borders.”
although its poor handling
war by creating massive
And she’s absolute-
prison expansions to keep of it has made it uniquely
ly correct. In fact, we
terrible.
up with the demands of
have a long history of
When the Obama
higher incarceration rates.
state-sanctioned family
administration began
In addition to prisons,
separation that continues
detaining families in large
in 2014 the U.S. govern-
as a widespread practice
facilities back in 2014,
ment massively expand-
today — particularly in
for-profit correctional
ed its detention centers
our justice system, where
corporation GEO Group
for immigrant families.
approximately 2.7 million According to reports from answered the call with the
children have a parent
Karnes Detention Center
the Lutheran Immigra-
behind bars.
in Texas, which broke
tion and Refugee Service
And the fastest growing (LIRS) and Women’s Ref- ground at that site last
group of prisoners?
ugee Commission (WRC), year in order to double its
Women.
between October 2014 and capacity.
According to a report
Another detention
September 2015, the U.S.
by the Prison Fellowship,
government apprehanded center was opened by
there has been a 14-fold
Correction Corporation
68,334 children accom-
increase of women in
of America (CCA) in 2015
panied by a parent at the
prison since 1970, and 80 southwest border — a 361 that holds 819 mothers
percent of them are single percent increase since the and 1,000 children in a
mothers.
lock-down style facility.
previous year. Keep in
Whether guilty or inno- mind that more than half
Both GEO Group and
From the Editor’s Desk
CCA have had facilities
closed in the past (Artesia
Detention Center and
Hutto Detention center,
respectively) due to alle-
gations of abuse and poor
living conditions — only
to re-open somewhere
else with a government
contract.
In a new paper written
by Oregon State University
sociology professor Brett
Burkhardt and published
this week in the journal
Criminology & Pubic
Policy, Burkhardt draws
a clear line connecting
private-run prisons and
detention centers to poli-
tics and special interests.
In it, Burkhardt notes
that “The big picture view
of this industry shows that
companies operating pri-
vate prisons and detention
centers shape politics and
policies...”
While I think we all
agree that our borders
should never be a revolv-
ing door, particularly in
an era with the constant
threats of global terror-
ism and illegal drugs,
one must ask who stands
to benefit most from an
ever-expanding system
of prisons and detention
centers.
And whether tax dollars
given to corporate prisons
and detention centers is
money well spent — or
money spent in order to
pretend that all is well.
LETTERS
Stand for our freedoms
before we lose them
I am so disappointed with the Siu-
slaw News for allowing Martin Cable
to include in his letter to the edi-
tor a despicable lie about President
Obama.
Obama’s exact words concern-
ing the Constitution in his farewell
speech were: “Our Constitution is a
remarkable, beautiful gift. But it’s re-
ally just a piece of parchment. It has
no power on its own. We, the people,
give it power. We, the people, give it
meaning. With our participation and
with the choices that we make, and
the alliances that we forge. Whether
or not we stand up for our freedoms.
Whether or not we respect and en-
force the rule of law. That’s up to us.
America is no fragile thing. But the
gains of our long journey to freedom
are not assured.”
Mr. Cable twisted and changed
these words and took them out of
all context to suggest that President
Obama does not respect the constitu-
tion. It is President Trump who cher-
rypicks the Constitution to suit his
agenda (or maybe he really doesn’t
know what it says, though he took an
oath to defend it).
He apparently doesn’t care for the
First Amendment, which protects
a free press and freedom of speech
(since he threatens journalists with
libel, calls for sanctions against “Sat-
urday Night Live” for its satire of him
and suggests that peacefully protest-
ing football players “maybe shouldn’t
be in the country”); or the Fifth
Amendment, which guarantees due
process (since he seems to be in favor
of targeting the families of terrorists,
wants to deny immigrants due pro-
cess); or the Eighth Amendment,
which prevents cruel and unusual
punishment (he has expressed great
enthusiasm for waterboarding); or
Article 1, which enshrines the sep-
aration of powers (as he attacks the
judiciary when they won’t do his bid-
ding, usurps the powers of Congress
when they won’t do his bidding, and
suggests the whole system of checks
and balances must be changed be-
cause it restricts his power).
Our constitutional democracy is
under attack on multiple fronts from
this man-who-would-be-king, while
a complicit Senate enables and en-
courages his dictatorial impulses.
President Obama was right — it’s
time to stand up for our freedoms,
before we lose them.
—Donna Mlinek
Florence
Abuse of power in Salem
It is obvious that the Democrat
power structure in Salem will do
whatever it wishes, irregardless of
public opinion. They can act this way
because blind devotion to the party
ensures their re-election no matter
what they do.
The Cap and Trade issue is a mat-
ter that is so important to all Orego-
nians that the public should decide
that issue at the ballot box. I am an
independent voter and my wife is
a life-long Democrat. We are both
alarmed at the abuse of power issu-
ing from Salem. This abuse is shown
when 66 percent of voters said that
undocumented persons should not
be issued drivers licenses — yet Gov.
Brown proceeds to overrule the pub-
lic vote. By definition, that is dicta-
torship.
Also, the Gov. Brown wants to cir-
cumvent the 12th Amendment by re-
quiring that Oregon’s electoral votes
be given to whomever wins the pop-
ular vote — another issue that should
be decided in a general election.
These political dictates are un-
democratic and demean the power of
the public vote.
—Keith Kraft
Florence
Stand for our freedoms
before we lose them
I am a 10-year resident of Flo-
rentine Estates. I wish to respond to
complaints from some of our resi-
dents during the recent City Council
meeting.
Several years ago, the FEHOA
Board responded to numerous re-
quests by homeowners and heirs of
owners to have a means by which
the contents of homes could be liq-
uidated. Many times, this was need-
ed due to older residents needing to
use assets to finance personal care at
the end of their lives. Other times,
heirs were unable themselves to re-
move contents of a home, or simply
did not need what loved ones had left
behind.
The board, after much discussion,
determined that the only kind, com-
passionate and sensible solution was
to allow estate sales.
Sales are limited to one time only
per owner and must be conducted
by a licensed outside party. There are
strict regulations about traffic, park-
ing and hours, which are frequently
reviewed and amended as needed by
the board.
A very tiny fraction of owners have
attempted to eliminate these sales
from the start. They represent fewer
than 10 of the the 440 lots in Floren-
tine Estates.
For years now, they have de-
manded to be heard over and over
at meetings and are not willing to
hear the other side or budge an inch
from their position. Now, we are at a
point where threats have been made
at estate sale personnel and board
members, and our visitors have been
treated unkindly. This is as sad as it is
deplorable.
That is not who we are.
Multiple boards at multiple times
have surveyed homeowners as to
their wishes. Florentine owners are
generally known to be considerate,
kind, generous folks who care deep-
ly about their neighbors. At each
survey, we overwhelmingly see the
need to allow estate sales, even if it is
personally inconvenient for a day or
two. I kindly ask the unhappy folks
to consider the need and think ahead
to the time when they may need an
estate sale of their own.
I am not now — and never have
been — an FEHOA Board member.
But I am a proud and happy Floren-
tine homeowner.
—Marta Daniels
Florentine Estates
USPS# 497-660
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WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep.
Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@oregonlegislature.gov
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us