Slanted story on Measure 114

I know you usually work hard at balance in your news coverage, but the story on Measure 114 was so one-sided I feel obliged to call you on it.  It wasn’t originally bylined, but whoever wrote it seems to have run the press release from the gun lobby.  Everyone knows it’s not “Oregon Gun Owners” but the gun rights groups that are behind this effort.  And to use the term “Shoot Down” in the headline is just unforgivable.

Where are the  quotes from the other side?  Was the reporter too lazy to call up The Alliance for Gun Safety or another advocacy group group for a comment?  And did the reporter interview the petitioners? I don’t think so.  Their “quotes” are right out of the gun rights groups’ playbook,

I know you can do better!

– Lou Capozzi, Bend

Take a stand

When is it finally going to be enough? When are patriots going to rise up on mass to say “This isn’t the United States that generations have fought and died for and we believe in?” How much more brutality and chaos are we willing to tolerate? How many institutions that support our society are we willing to toss in a trash can? How many of those employees are we going to kick aside without cause?

Do we really want reckless, obviously incompetent people running these institutions? Are we really OK with financially attacking all our allies with these tariffs (or more to the point, taxes on us all)? Does it make any kind of sense to claim that we’re just going to own Greenland, whatever it takes? Do we have to have the oval office decorated with gold?

It’s time for every American to answer these questions large and small, and so many others for themselves and take a stand.

– Rick Esson, Bend

Every defendant deserves due process

Due Process: It’s not just a good idea; it’s the law!

Recently I was a juror for a criminal trial in Deschutes County. The judge thoroughly explained our job as jurors, and the defense and prosecution attorneys carefully presented the evidence. We jurors understood we must presume the defendant was innocent, while the state’s job was to convince us otherwise. When we returned the verdict, I was proud that everyone took the process so seriously.

But what if the government abandons due process? The Trump administration denied the rights of a legal Maryland resident, Kilmar Abrego García. Accusing him of being a gang member, Trump’s henchmen deported him to an El Salvador prison. They later admitted the arrest was a mistake, then refused to bring him home. They won’t bother to convince a jury he’s guilty because they didn’t presume him innocent in the first place. They’re acting like Trump is a medieval king, not a president obeying the Constitution.

Some think because Abrego García isn’t a citizen, he doesn’t deserve due process. But the 5th and 6th Amendments state that “persons,” not citizens, have rights to due process and trial by jury.

Let’s speak out for Kilmar Abrego García’s rights. They’re our rights too.

– Dorothy Leman, Bend