Thanks. I have met Doc Lucas. He has been to several of the
Youth Center Task Force Meeting (wonderful man that he is). I
also do not want you to think that I think all politicians are
as I spoke. But, people like Doc Lucas are all to rare in this
world.......at least they seem to be becoming rarer and rarer.
An "honest and committed politician" they must have thrown away
the mold after Doc Lucas.
Joan B
From: "Bert Cross"
<bcross@uidaho.edu> To: "Joan Berney"
<JBERNEY@novell.uidaho.edu> Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 09:47:57
+0000 Subject: Re: Prison Alternatives Priority: normal
I can share some of your feelings about politicians, but I think you
might get a sympathetic ear from James R. (Doc) Lucas. He was a
long-time representative of Latah County in the legislature and has
now been appointed to the Idaho Juvenile Justice Commission. He's
especially interested in the Youth Outreach program. If it's okay
with you, I'll print out your letter and give him a copy. Thank you
for responding. Bert Cross
One very good way to combat overcrowding in prisons is to ensure that
you have an excellent youth outreach program. Here in Moscow you
have all the elements to make an excellent Youth Outreach program at
very little cost to the community. You just need to utilize the
resources already available in the community and create a few other
types of outreach out of what also already exists. Why not start
helping with the problems before it becomes an offense someone needs
to be imprisoned for.
Also, in the drug-related areas......the war on drugs is the biggest
crock and waste of money that ever came out of the 60's. Come on!
lets get real! We are talking billions of dollars spent fighting
drugs.....yet in communities all over this country (including Moscow)
Judges, lawyers, mayors, teachers, law enforcement officers,
doctors, etc. people from all walks of life are involved in drug
activity, are making their fortunes off the taxpayers on both sides
of the coin....using, selling, distributing, and supposedly working
to stop it all.
All the thousands of dollars spent on DARE to prevent drug use by
youth means nothing if judges and prominent members of the community
are using and getting away with it.
So in reality, in America....only the poor go to jail for drug
related crimes......so who are we kidding.....just ourselves
again!!!!
But then what can you expect from people in a country where too many
will fall for the flash in the pan of "Clinton" and make him
president (not just once but twice). We've lost touch with
reality.....we claim to fight the good battle and then work twice as
hard to defeat what we are paying to fight for by not doing the right
thing.
So as long as judges are snorting are snorting the dust, the business
men are building their businesses with drug money, and the law
enforcement is spending our money to look like they are fighting the
war on drugs, we the taxpayer and citizen, again, take it in the
wallet!!!!!
You know just once I'd like to have that open check book politicians,
lawyers, judges, and government workers have. Just one trip to the
grocery store with that open check book would give me a thrill!!!!
Just one bill paying month to have that open check book would be
nice! But as a woman who works in a profession that has been
discriminately held to lower than should be wages, because that's the
way things are, who has watched people get rich in the war on
drugs....on both sides. I'm just a little sick of the whole darn
thing!
I don't know about anyone else but quite frankly I'm tired of getting
taken to the bank by politicians, the government (who gives me no
representation) and the judicial system that is just a racket (those
judges spend more time fining people to add to their retirement fund
than doing the right thing that would help heal people in the
community - ex. a couple brought in to court for domestic
violence...rather than sentencing them to go to an anger control
class and come back with a certificate showing completion of this
class, they were fined $1,000 they didn't have - because a good
portion of any fine goes to take care our already overpaid judges
retirement fund). These are judges who have not lived up to their
commitment to the community in the last 50 years they've taken our
money and done very little to use their knowledge, expertise and/or
position to make positive changes in the community or the country as
a whole.
Sorry, but I see the judges and lawyers as nothing but a blight on
society. Playing their little games and costing us all "way too much
money"....and they wonder why they're getting the bad rap all the
time. Well Perhaps it's because they deserve to get the bad rap!!!!
The regular citizen can only hope there is a GOD, because at least we
know that if not in this world in the next these jokers will get
what's coming to them....but once in a while wouldn't it be nice to
just see true justice and ethics being practiced by the local
professionals or any professionals for that matter. You say but
there are professionals in this community that are ethical. Sorry!
I question that? As long as it is a known fact that a judge who is
using and abusing sits on the bench, every professional aware of
this, every law enforcement officer who knows about it has become
unethical for the simple fact that they have allowed this person to
remain in a position of power when he shouldn't be.....and we know it
goes a lot deeper than just the judge....but since investigative
reporting hasn't been invented in Moscow yet, the community can
pretend to sit in ignorance of what is happening around them.
So as long as the justice system remains in the hands of unethical
professionals where money decides your sentence, where law
enforcement ignores the crimes of the powerful and only harrasses the
poor, and the "righteous" professionals who work with the unethical
allow it to continue, because "they can't be bothered with doing the
right thing" we will show the world what a "joke" the word "justice"
is in America.
JoanB