Kavanaugh and Supreme Court | Letters to the editor, Oct. 18, 2018

Supreme Court an arm of the GOP?

Erwin Chemerinsky has to be smoking something mighty powerful to not recognize that the accusations and obstructionist tactics of Senate Democrats are nothing but a smear campaign orchestrated to prevent the confirmation of the most qualified nominee for the Supreme Court in recent history. (Brett) Kavanaugh has, throughout his career, demonstrated his knowledge and appreciation of the Constitution and the body of civil law. He has a documented history of impartial, well thought out judicial decisions. The ABA gave him its highest rating. (The recent opposition of the association’s president to confirmation doesn’t change what the members of the ABA thought and continue to think of Judge Kavanaugh.)

Democrats can’t dispute his juridical qualifications so they resort to character assassination and stalling tactics to get their way. Chemerinsky and the faculties at Harvard and Yale law schools cheer them on; their students march in protest of Kavanaugh. A generation of judges will decide cases on the basis of ideological whim rather than established law.

Chemerinsky predicts (hopes?) the Supreme Court will be seen as an arm of the Republican Party — only in his eyes; and he’d obviously rather have it be an arm of the Democratic Party with its liberal obsessions.

Nunes needs to come clean on farm

How long until Devin Nunes admits his “family farm” is in Iowa and not in Tulare County? This man is an embarrassment to the district and has humiliated us in Congress and with the nation. He’s in charge of the House Intelligence Committee? What a joke.

Don’t relax the fuel standards

My friends would tell you I don’t get riled up very often. But the EPA’s latest proposal has done the trick. It proposes to stop making any effort to increase the fuel economy of our nation’s vehicles. It would undermine long-standing efforts to clean up our polluted Valley air.

I was at the EPA hearing downtown last week, wearing my white coat, letting them know that this is one doctor — among many — who oppose the change. The executive directors of the air districts of Los Angeles and the Bay Area were also at the hearing, speaking against the proposal. I didn’t spot our own air district executive director, Samir Sheikh. Maybe I missed him.

The proposed change does not sync with the EPA’s stated mission which is “protecting human health and the environment.” Neither does it sync with one of our local air district’s core values, which is “protection of public health.”

If any air district in the country needs to oppose this rule change, our Valley Air District needs to. If any air district in the country needs to support higher vehicle emission standards, our Valley Air District needs to.

It is wrong to put a child in prison

Do you think you or any child below the age of 16 is mature enough to make life-changing decisions? The idea supporting the claim that kids should be tried as adults is that kids are mature enough to make the right decisions. Some 15 year old kids yell, roll their eyes, and say things they don’t mean in the moment due to not being able to control their tempers. Granted, murdering someone and a child rolling his eyes aren’t near the same.

But the idea that a child can control his temper is far from accurate. The last thing that child needs is prison. Children in prison are five times more likely to be raped while in prison than in juvenile hall. It is known that the human mind is not fully developed till the mid 20s. There are stories over and over of boys and girls as young as 11 killing other kids, but as we can’t ignore the tragic death of one, we cannot send a child to prison for life.