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Injustice in the justice system

Friday morning I opened The Bulletin to Page A2 and found another article about the subhuman murderer run to ground in Grants Pass. A significant aspect of that story is the incredibly short sentence he had received for a prior set of gruesome crimes in Nevada — the kidnapping and vicious battery of a woman. He was released after less than two years in jail — even though this was far from his first serious crime and even though he obviously represented a mortal danger to the public.

I turned my attention to the facing page and found an article about the Portland lawyer who bilked her clients out of millions of dollars. The judge on that case sentenced her to fourteen years in prison! The prosecutors expressed outrage, the judge was unforgiving, and a lot was said about justice being done.

I felt a resurgence of a sentiment I’ve felt many times before. The system of justice in this country often (or perhaps usually) punishes perpetrators of monetary crimes, like theft and embezzlement, far more severely than those who commit serious crimes against innocent victims — even heinous violent crimes.

Has our justice system really reached the point where dollars mean so much more than people’s lives? Is our justice system so concerned with the rights of perpetrators that it is almost blind to the safety of the public and the fate of victims? And if so, does it deserve the term “justice”?

— David Shoulders, Bend

Wrong about Social Security

The opinion piece on Social Security penned by Ramesh Ponnuru on Feb. 4 was incredibly misleading and disingenuous.

He states that raising the cap on Social Security income to $400,000 would reduce the current shortfall by 43%. Instead of writing that this would be a significant benefit, he does a bait and switch by stating it wouldn’t help other social programs. So what? Is there something wrong with fixing one problem at a time?

He also states that “most” people believe that they only get what they have paid into Social Security.

That is specious. I could find no such poll. The actual return on investment is a paltry 2% when adjusted for inflation, far below most stocks and bonds. Instead, he praises the additional money as “lovely”!

He is only critical of any proposal, but offers no solutions.

An editor of The National Review and a Fellow at The American Enterprise Institute, both very conservative and anti virtually any tax should not be taken seriously about tax reform.

— Alan Pachtman, Bend

Keeping the American dream

The family home is the hallmark of the American dream and Oregon lawmakers did the right thing by passing SB 608 in 2019 to help keep families in their homes. However, in 2023 with high inflation renters are facing unreasonable increases of up to 14.6 %. For buildings younger than 15 years there is no limit to how much rent could go up so the moment calls for all of us to ask ourselves: Did we let greed kill the American Dream?

The mortgage mafia and its games in 2008 delivered a deathly blow to the opportunity of millions to own homes and with their homes went the financially strong America the rest of the world admired or feared. Mismanagement has led the USA to have an incredible amount of wealth coexisting with incredibly high numbers of homelessness, medical debt, and incarceration. So what is the solution? Protecting people not profit and that is why all should come out in masses to support SB 611 & HB 2733.

SB 611 looks to provide more time and resources for families being evicted and HB 2733 looks to amend the rent stabilization law to limit rent increases to 3% plus inflation, or 8% whichever is lower.

Your story, voice, and experience as a tenant are needed to strengthen democracy and renters’ protections. You CAN help limit the exploitative and greedy practices of landlords! Follow these legislative initiatives on the Oregon legislative website, and make sure to share your story during the upcoming hearings.

— Joanne Mina lives in Bend and is vice chair of Bend’s Human Rights and Equity Commission.

Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor.