In response to the guest editorial from the Youngstown Vindicator, “Revive the death penalty,” June 7, instead of developing plans on how to better serve Ohio citizens, some state legislators are spending our money and their time designing a better way to kill people.
Nitrogen hypoxia asphyxiation: it’s new and improved, they say, conveniently omitting that in Ohio it is illegal to kill a dog that way.
In Ohio, no one has been executed in six years. Has the sky fallen? Michigan banned executions in 1846. Has that state gone to hell in a hand cart? Most will agree the justice system is far from perfect. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, between 1975 and 2015, 26 Ohioans were found guilty of murders they did not commit. Half of them faced the death penalty.
How long will Ohio kill people to show it is wrong to kill people?
SUSAN CARTER
North Toledo
Let’s recall the facts
CNN writer, Oliver Darcy, may have a touch of dementia. In the June 7 Blade article titled, “Hunter Biden’s trial shows U.S. courts aren’t so rigged after all,” he forgets to mention that during 2023, the Department of Justice proposed to reduce Hunter’s felony charges of an illegal gun purchase and tax evasion to misdemeanors. He would not plead guilty in the gun case, and it would be dismissed if he stayed out of trouble for two years. He failed to pay taxes on $4 million for 2017 and 2018. That was going to be reduced to a misdemeanor charge. Combined, the cases could have earned a sentence of up to 25 years, as felonies. However, because of pressure and outrage by a number of opponents to the deal, the DOJ decided to prosecute the cases. So, Mr. Darcy, had the people not spoken up, Hunter Biden would have enjoyed some “court rigging,” as you choose to name it.
LARRY GILLEN
Maumee
Gratified for Donald Clark’s remarks
Many thanks to Mr. Clark for his recent commentary regarding his father’s military service on the Normandy beaches in June, 1944, during World War II and the difficult yet resilient upbringing where he and his family worked together to achieve the common good. It echoes the preamble to our country’s Constitution: “WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union ... ” As a country or as a family we strive to achieve the best that we can be, and, in any and all events, whether good, bad, or indifferent, we carry onward. As teachers, postal carriers, building contractors, restaurant servers, stay-at-home dads, dairy farmers, nurses, naval officers, and yes, judges and jurors, we all carry onward in spite of the incessant ramblings of the “far right” and the “far left.” Those entities refuse to recognize the inherent goodness in each other, decline to extend a hand across the aisle, and fail miserably as part of “WE THE PEOPLE ... ”
As Mr. Clark so aptly stated: “People, this great country that my father and I fought for is in trouble, and we need to fix it now.” The voting booths are waiting for all of us in November. Democratic nations around the world are watching us. “WE THE PEOPLE” must vote to save our democracy from the clear and present threats of autocratic forces.
COLLEEN WARNER
West Toledo
Trump verdict based on feelings
Donald Trump was charged and indicted with no proof or evidence. There was no evidence to justify 34 guilty verdicts. Just feelings. There has never been any poof/evidence made public to Americans. A stripper gave an X-rated testimony with no proof or evidence. All hearsay! These are 34 partisan guilty verdicts just like the two partisan impeachments. A partisan Biden supporter judge controlled the courtroom along with partisan prosecutors, and the jury was made up of people from partisan New York City. Trump and Americans still don’t know the crime.
LAURIE BAHNSEN
Oregon
First Published June 13, 2024, 4:00 a.m.
