LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Prisoners have license to murder

10/16/2013

At Toledo Correctional Institution, we see the results of Ohio’s move away from death-penalty sentences in favor of life without parole (“Crisis at TCI,” editorial, Oct. 10).

Life without parole is a license to kill in prison, free of consequences. So while bleeding-heart liberals have partially succeeded in moving Ohio away from sentencing and carrying out the death penalty, as many inmates were murdered at TCI in the past 12 months as were legally executed by the state.

The blood of the four inmates who were murdered at TCI, and those who will continue to be murdered by lifers, is on the hands of death penalty opponents.

MARK HARRELL
Swanton

Use handy drugs for executions
I don’t understand the angst the prison system is having about getting designer drugs to execute inmates (“Lethal pause,” editorial, Oct. 3). Replace the drugs used in state executions with whatever drugs are readily available, such as cocaine, heroin, or barbiturates.

Years ago, we weren’t so humane. There were firing squads or hangings.

These death-row inmates are not angels. I have no misgivings about how they are executed. In most cases, they had no regard for the lives of others.

JACK SNYDER
Erie, Mich.

 

Voters need to get facts right
The Sept. 28 Reader’s Forum letter “Obama, Fed cause wealth gap” blames the increasing disparity between rich and poor on Obamacare. We’ve become accustomed to the triumph of ideology over evidence since the emergence of the Tea Party, but sometimes it’s breathtaking.

The concentration of income and wealth in the hands of the top 1 percent began in the late 1970s. It has continued almost unabated — with a brief pause during the Bill Clinton years — ever since.

But we’re supposed to believe that it’s caused by a law passed in 2010 that hasn’t taken full effect yet. This would be comical, except that it reflects the thinking of a significant minority of the American electorate.

Criticizing the incumbent president is an important part of America’s political heritage. But we should at least try to make sense.

GARY LEE
Bowling Green

 

Suspend pay for House members
House Republicans are playing hardball to get their way. They are causing anxiety for the country.

All income and benefits for members of the House should be suspended until the shutdown ends.

DOROTHY BARRERA
West Alexis Road