A4 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2022
Opinion
BAKER CITY
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Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
Change of heart
about VA plan
is good news
G
ood news from Congress is often hard to
come by but the recent announcement from
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s office that a plan to
modify the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA
Medical Center in Walla Walla into an outpatient
clinic is no longer an option was a bright spot among
the usual fare of depressing information that leaks
from the nation’s capital.
Wyden said in a press release earlier this month that
he “welcomed the news” that a group of bipartisan
senators will block the plan originally configured by
the veterans Asset and Infrastructure Review Com-
mission. That plan would have shut down the 31-bed
residential rehabilitation and treatment program and
moved it to Spokane.
Wyden, in a recent town hall meeting, reported he’d
heard from veterans about how the plan to turn the
facility into an outpatient clinic would make a nega-
tive impact.
All the gratitude for the decision can’t rest with
Wyden, of course, as a number of other prominent
senators also chimed in to stop the plan from becom-
ing a reality. Yet, Wyden’s influence was surely a factor
and we thank the senator for that assistance.
The fact is the concept was a bankrupt one from the
very beginning. Why the federal government would
want to shortchange our veterans on any issue is not
only a mystery but grossly unfair. Surely money had a
lot to do with the decision. It is no secret the costs of
the Veterans Administration continue to climb at an
unprecedented rate. Taxpayers are ultimately billed
for those costs, just like taxpayers end up footing the
bill for any conflict the nation finds itself in.
Caring for our veterans is one of those unseen and
often not talked about aspects of our foreign policy.
When the call erupts across the nation to let slip the
dogs of war, the upfront costs are always high. Yet
when a conflict is over, those costs continue as the
men and women who shouldered the burden need
long-term, costly care.
We owe our veterans a great deal, including ex-
cellent health care. The fact that the plan to turn the
Walla Walla clinic into an outpatient center has been
abandoned is good news.
L
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OTHER VIEWS
High court undermines Miranda rights
EDITORIAL FROM THE SACRAMENTO BEE:
ost in the furor over the Supreme
Court’s decision to overturn the
nearly five decades of American
bodily autonomy guaranteed by Roe v.
Wade was another appalling ruling in
Vega v. Tekoh. It undermined the land-
mark 56-year-old precedent that estab-
lished what have come to be known as Mi-
randa rights.
In a decision that fell along the same
ideological lines as the one that over-
turned Roe, the court ruled that suspects
who are not informed of their constitu-
tional right to remain silent under police
questioning cannot sue law enforcement
or other government officials for damages.
The decision guts the 1966 ruling in
Miranda v. Arizona. If police are not com-
pelled to read Miranda warnings by the
threat of lawsuits, then there is no impetus
for them to do so.
The court was ruling on the case of
Terence Tekoh, who was arrested by Los
Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Carlos Vega in
2014 for the sexual assault of a patient at
the hospital where Tekoh worked. Un-
der interrogation, Tekoh confessed to the
crime. But Vega had failed to announce
his Miranda rights at the time of arrest,
opening the door for Tekoh to sue the
department for violating his constitu-
tional rights.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the
majority that while Miranda rights
have “roots” in the Constitution,
“a violation of Miranda does not
necessarily constitute a violation of
the Constitution.”
Tekoh was ultimately acquitted even
though his confession was presented at
trial. His lawyers argued that Vega refused
to accept Tekoh’s profession of innocence
and had “a hand resting on his firearm”
during the suspect’s interrogation. They
also argued that the deputy threatened
to report Tekoh, a legal U.S. resident, to
immigration officials, which could have
meant deportation to, and persecution in,
Cameroon.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the ma-
jority that while Miranda rights have
“roots” in the Constitution, “a violation of
Miranda does not necessarily constitute a
violation of the Constitution.” The justice
wrote that statements obtained without a
Miranda warning should be suppressed
at trial, but he argued that “Allowing the
victim of a Miranda violation to sue a po-
lice officer for damages ... would have little
additional deterrent value, and permitting
such claims would cause many problems.”
But Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent
that the ruling “strips individuals of the
ability to seek a remedy for violations of
the right recognized in Miranda. The ma-
jority observes that defendants may still
seek ‘the suppression at trial of statements
obtained’ in violation of Miranda’s proce-
dures. But sometimes, such a statement
will not be suppressed.” In such cases, the
justice asked, what remedy will defendants
have for wrongful convictions and other
harms at the hands of police who don’t in-
form them of their rights?
Given that the court previously found
Miranda warnings “necessary to safe-
guard the personal protections of the Fifth
Amendment,” Kagan asked, why shouldn’t
the reading of rights be enforceable?
Most people’s experience of Miranda
rights comes from watching police proce-
durals on television, which often get the
basic facts of the law right: Those taken
into police custody must be advised of
their Fifth Amendment protection from
self-incrimination, such as during inter-
rogation.
As the dissent argued, it’s not clear what
will compel police to inform suspects of
their rights during interrogation if they
can’t be held accountable for ignoring the
requirement. Rights do not enforce them-
selves.
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Email: news@bakercityherald.com
COLUMN
Lesson from recent shootings: Red flags can’t wave themselves
BY MARTIN SCHRAM
R
ed flags will just hang like limp
noodles if their flag-wavers go
AWOL on breezeless days. Left
unattended, those red bits of cloth will
signal no warning alert, send no sense
of alarm that urgent action is needed
to save lives.
And the same goes for even our
best-intentioned red flag laws — such
as the one the Congress recently ap-
proved, touching off a burst of belated
bipartisan self-congratulation. Red
flag laws can prove every bit as limp
and useless as those bits of cloth, if
the laws are left to somehow enforce
themselves, by federal, state and local
law enforcement officials who allow
themselves to become the govern-
ment’s equivalents of limp noodle bu-
reaucrats.
That is one of the tragic lessons
we are now being forced to confront
after a twisted young shooter, armed
with new combat-style weapons he
was allowed to legally purchase —
despite police warnings! — rained
83 flesh-ripping combat rounds on
a family-friendly Fourth of July pa-
rade through Chicago’s picture-per-
fect northern suburb of Highland
Park.
The director of the Illinois State Po-
lice, Brendan Kelly, wants to be sure
you know his agency handled every-
thing strictly by the book. Kelly told
reporters he believes his agency han-
dled everything appropriately. Even
when it allowed Robert E. Crimo III
to buy all those weapons — despite
the fact that the state police received
warnings of two red flag incidents in
which Highland Park police classified
Crimo as a “clear and present danger.”
You be the judge. (And in this case,
you needed to be — because Kelly’s
state police never brought the matter
to a court’s attention before allow-
ing the underage youth to buy his
mass-killing combat weapon.) Here,
Your Honors, is what Kelly’s state po-
lice knew before allowing Crimo to
buy his arsenal, on the grounds that it
didn’t have enough info to ask a judge
to decide:
• In September 2019, Highland
Park police went to Crimo’s home af-
ter a person (name publicly withheld)
warned police the then-teenager had
bladed weapons and threatened to
“kill everybody” in the house. Police
confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and
a sword. Earlier that year, police had
gone to the house after receiving a
report that the youth had attempted
suicide.
• The Highland Park police filed
what is called a “clear and present
danger” report with the Illinois State
Police. The youth’s father, Robert E.
Crimo Jr., who lives elsewhere, re-
portedly told police all the bladed
weapons were his and his son was just
holding them for him. Police gave the
knives, dagger and sword to the father.
• Three months later, the youth, not
yet 21, applied for a Firearm Own-
er’s Identification card, with his father
signing as his sponsor. By 2020, young
Crimo owned several guns, including
the rapid-firing semi-automatic ri-
fle he allegedly used to kill seven and
wound many more.
The police who believed that the
youth’s possession of 16 knives, a dag-
ger and a sword was a “clear and pres-
ent danger” may well have been able
to convince a judge that possession of
multiple rapid-firing rifles, magazines
carrying 30 rounds and huge amounts
of ammunition was at least as danger-
ous as those sharp blades.
Illinois State Police Director Kelly
wants to be sure you know that his
agency doesn’t have a copy of the
report filed by the Highland Park
police. Illinois’ red flag law was in
effect in 2019. But the state police
didn’t choose to ask a judge to decide
whether the youth, who had no arrest
record, should be allowed to buy his
mass-killing arsenal.
Kelly emphasized Wednesday that
family and friends should take the
lead in matters such as this. “This is so
dependent upon the people that may
be closest around the individual of
concern, the person that may be pos-
ing a threat to themselves … or oth-
ers,” said Kelly.
Time Out: Perhaps family members
sometimes cannot lead an effort to
block a gun purchase by an unstable
family member — out of fear for their
own safety at home. This may have
been the duty of the state police to en-
force public safely by asking a judge to
decide whether a “Firearm Restrain-
ing Order” should be issued, as pro-
vided in Illinois’ red flag law.
As explained in an Illinois state
agency report, a judge can oversee
the issuance of a 14-day Emergency
Firearm Restraining Order, followed
by a six-month Firearm Restraining
Order and can hold a full hearing into
the case.
Back in Washington, armed with
our new federal red flag provisions,
the attorney general and secretary of
homeland security need to act at once.
They need to swiftly provide all states
with a template of procedures that will
assure that red flag alerts have at least
an enforceable chance of safeguarding
us all.
Martin Schram, an op-ed columnist for Tribune
News Service, is a veteran Washington journalist,
author and TV documentary executive. Readers
may send him email at martin.schram@gmail.com.
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. office: 313 Hart Senate Office
Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753;
fax 202-228-3997. Portland office: One World Trade Center, 121
S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386;
fax 503-326-2900. Baker City office, 1705 Main St., Suite 504,
541-278-1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office: 221 Dirksen Senate Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-
228-2717. La Grande office: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR
97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz (2nd District): D.C. office: 1239
Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515,
202-225-6730; fax 202-225-5774. Medford office: 14 N. Central
Avenue Suite 112, Medford, OR 97850; Phone: 541-776-4646;
fax: 541-779-0204; Ontario office: 2430 S.W. Fourth Ave., No. 2,
Ontario, OR 97914; Phone: 541-709-2040. bentz.house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR
97310; 503-378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov.
Oregon Legislature: Legislative documents and information
are available online at www.leg.state.or.us.
State Sen. Lynn Findley (R-Ontario): Salem office: 900 Court
St. N.E., S-403, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. Email: Sen.
LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane): Salem office: 900 Court
St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep.
MarkOwens@oregonlegislature.gov
3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-8200. Meets the first and
third Wednesdays at 9 a.m.; Bill Harvey (chair), Mark Bennett,
Bruce Nichols.
Baker City Hall: 1655 First Street, P.O. Box 650, Baker City, OR
97814; 541-523-6541; fax 541-524-2049. City Council meets
the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers.
Councilors Jason Spriet, Kerry McQuisten, Shane Alderson, Joanna
Dixon, Kenyon Damschen, Johnny Waggoner Sr. and Dean Guyer.
Baker County departments: 541-523-8200. Travis Ash,
sheriff; Noodle Perkins, roadmaster; Greg Baxter, district
attorney; Alice Durflinger, county treasurer; Stefanie Kirby,
county clerk; Kerry Savage, county assessor.
Baker City administration: 541-523-6541. Jonathan Cannon,
city manager; Ty Duby, police chief; Sean Lee, fire chief;
Michelle Owen, public works director.
Baker County Commission: Baker County Courthouse 1995
Baker School District: 2090 4th Street, Baker City, OR 97814;
541-524-2260; fax 541-524-2564. Superintendent: Mark Witty.
Board meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. Council
Chambers, Baker City Hall,1655 First St.; Chris Hawkins, Andrew
Bryan, Travis Cook, Jessica Dougherty, Julie Huntington.