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Rikers common sense

Posted

To the editor:

Marc Bullaro is certainly right that "Rikers dysfunction is a self-fulfilling prophecy," (May 8 Chief).

Not only do we have mayors who are often not sincere. We have ones who, regardless of how "well-educated" they are, don't seem to have any sense. Allegedly intelligent people are often prolific producers of stupidity.

     Common sense would tell you that if you have the same jail system and the same inmates in different buildings, things will not get better. Common sense will also tell you that mandating a reduction of the prison population can be dangerous.

How do you keep the public safe if the only way to do this is by releasing the dangerously violent?

     Some have argued that there are many people in Rikers who are no threat to the public. If this is so, then why are the dangerous ones being released instead?

     One of the most ridiculous arguments I've heard has been in defense of murderers. It's been said that no one should spend the rest of their life in prison for what they did on their worst day.

Really? This argument makes even less sense when I read, on a regular basis, of those who are arrested for murder who have already served a sentence, or sentences, for that crime.

     Any person in prison who doesn't belong there needs to be released. But our courts and parole boards must stop freeing those who are a danger to us.

     Also, the state legislature needs to pass, and the governor needs to sign into law, life without parole for murder, attempted murder and horrendous crimes.

Richard Warren

Comments

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  • Valete

    Lo and behold, Richard Warren has finally begun to realize that protecting the public from criminal elements is not repressive authoritarianism, but necessary for a civil society to function. How and why this transformation occurred is anybody’s guess!

    Thursday, May 21 Report this

  • Admin

    Word Man/Sica is just as dishonest as Trump. I have previously advocated in Chief letters for life imprisonment without parole for dangerous criminals.

    Friday, May 22 Report this

  • Admin

    Six letters of mine that Word Man/Sica either missed, forgot or is deliberately ignoring: A just justice system (4-10-26); More violence against COs (3-13-26); No justice, no peace (10-24-25); Lessen leniency (10-3-25); Ill served (7-10-25) and Nonaligned (5-23-25). The last one best explains the difference between Sica and me. I state that the reason I wanted Leonard Peltier released is not because I'm a liberal but because I don't' believe innocent people should be kept in prison while the reason I want life without parole is not because I'm a conservative but because I don't want the public endangered by murderers walking around. Unlike Sica, who is blindly aligned to the Republican party and Trump, I look for just solutions regardless of whether they are considered left, center or right.

    Saturday, May 23 Report this

  • Valete

    That’s a god spiel, but you know that I know that is hot-air….

    Saturday, May 23 Report this

  • Valete

    In straightforward and simplistic language, writing letters to the Chief is like writing essays in a college political science class; if your commentaries are left of center politically, you get a high grade, but if your essays are right of center, you get a very low grade. I know this experience because I have put to the test both approaches to confirm my theory, and you know what, I was right. The left-leaning essay received very high marks, whereas the right-leaning essays received very low marks. So if you want to receive an A, write essays with a left-of-center perspective, blindly adhering to the Marxian-ideology of the Democrat Party platform. It’s funny, when I ask people the reason for their hatred of Trump, they say he’s evil; he lies, but they can’t say what disagreement they have with his domestic or foreign policy. When people ask me the reason I am no longer a Democrat, I always give a short and honest answer. The social policies of the Democrat Party are counterculture, and their economic policies are Marxian economics. Some people ask for further elaboration in regard to my answer to their question, but most people get my point! I’m curious, what is the reason for the Administration posting commentaries for Richard Warren? Who is Richard Warren? Is Richard Warren a fictional character? Was Richard Warren created to connect with the audience, or drive the debate left of center? Whatever the case might be, Richard Warren has his political leanings, and I have my political leanings. Warren leans left, and I lean right—it makes for an animated political discussion. Apparently, I prefer using metaphors and irony to convey my message. Warren, on the other hand, adopts a more standard approach to comparative politics; that’s the gist of it!

    Sunday, May 24 Report this