Letters, letters, letters

To the Editor:

Russell Sadler in a recent column denounced those of us who believe that victims' rights deserve a place in our state's constitution ("Crime measures threaten Bill of Rights," The Nugget, October 20, page 2).

He apparently thinks that the only rights that ever merit protection are those for accused criminals. In his hysterical call to arms he tramples on the truth and fails to let his readers in on some very salient facts.

He's not satisfied to just attack the Crime Victims' Measures (69-75).

Sadler goes on a rant about Measure 11 - which he opposed when it was on the ballot in 1994 - which finally brought certainty and actual, real prison sentences to people who rape and kill. He doesn't tell you that he claimed Measure 11 would break the state's budget, when in fact it has reduced crime while not significantly increasing the need for prison beds.

Sadler was against Measure 10 - Oregon's first Victims' Rights' Measure in 1986. At the time he claimed that if Measure 10 passed, Oregonians could kiss their civil liberties good-bye. Oregon voters approved it by a 3 to 1 margin.

Did letting a victim speak at sentencing diminish our Bill of Rights one bit? Of course not. Sadler was against Measure 40 before it passed in 1996, claiming it too would spell the end of civil rights as we know them. Yet he can't point to one single injustice wrought while that law was in effect before the Supreme Court struck it down on a technicality.

He claims these measures will cost untold millions of dollars, yet the fiscal impact has been determined by three state officials, including Democratic Treasurer Jim Hill and Democratic Secretary of State Phil Keisling, who have gone on the record as saying there is no significant fiscal impact to any of the seven measures.

It seems that Sadler is always right, and the Oregon electorate is always wrong. Unlike Sadler, I trust Oregon's voters to do the right thing.

Joshua Marquis

District Attorney, Clatsop County

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To the Editor:

I would like to publicly thank Sergeant Wayne Inman for the moving column he wrote in The Nugget ("Recent hate messages mandate a response, October 13, page 2). His description of how racism takes root in a community was insightful and yet frightening at the same time.

It reminded me of something I heard in a sermon recently:

"They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak up for me." - Martin Niemoller, German pastor and victim of Nazi concentration camps.

I think Sergeant Inman's article should be reprinted. Thank you, sir, for speaking up.

Randy King

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To the Editor:

Once again the Fall Carnival was a great success!

A big thanks to all the Mad Hatters parents for their hard work, the performing arts students who helped us set up and our friends who helped us clean up.

The Campfire Boys and Girls put on their best spooky haunted house ever. Thank you to the community for giving us such a fun way to raise money for the Sisters Middle School choir.

See you next year.

Diana Kelleher

Jackie Kolb