LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

No justice

Buried on the back page of the main section of the Journal Sentinel on Sept. 18 was one of the most troubling stories I have ever read (“Court reverses $6.7 million award in jail rape”).

A woman in the county jail was repeatedly raped by a guard, including when she was seven months pregnant and a few days after giving birth. A federal jury awarded the woman a $6.7 million settlement in the case.

However, in spite of the county having a zero tolerance policy against sexual contact of any kind by a guard with an inmate, an appeals court protected the county from having to pay this settlement because, the appeals court said “the rapes were outside of his employment and duties.”

Really? We have a pregnant woman in a jail cell and a guard who was preying on her and the county is not responsible. Nor, for that matter, is the guard —who is also shielded by a state law that protects workers from lawsuit while they are performing their duties.

So which is it? He was found guilty of a lesser charge and served three days in the House of Correction and paid a $200 fine. He also was fired. But does anyone think that justice was done?

Elaine Bergstrom

Milwaukee

Why so many Catholics?

I don’t think it necessarily means I’m prejudiced, but as a student of American religious behavior, I am wondering why of the nine members of the Supreme Court, six are Roman Catholic and three are Jewish).

I’m not suggesting a quota system, but it does strike me as odd that in a religiously pluralistic society such as ours, the court doesn’t have maybe at least one Protestant, or one agnostic, or perhaps one “None” (God forbid an atheist, of course!).

Granted, the Catholics on the court run the gamut from conservative to liberal, but again, it strikes me as odd that two-thirds of the seats are held by members of a faith that constitutes about 22% of the United States population.

Were there six Southern Baptists, or six Presbyterians, or six of the same whatever, I do believe I could make the same inquiry without it being considered prejudiced.

Jerry Buerer

Wausau

Kavanaugh’s accuser

If a single person can derail, or even delay, the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice simply by stating, without evidence, that Judge Brett Kavanaugh tried to assault her when they were both teenagers, our republic will no longer be able to function. That, of course, has been the intent of “the resistance” all along.

Had someone accused Kavanaugh of having been a teenaged Russian spy, do any of us doubt that Democrats in the media and Washington “resistance” would be howling for the appointment of a team of special prosecutors to delay the process while they carried out a publicly funded smear campaign on Kavanaugh and anyone with whom he has associated?

Wisconsin voters should stop tolerating this dangerous foolishness. All Democratic voters need to ask themselves why they fanatically resist a freer economy, greater prosperity and the basic rule of law without which we will disintegrate into a large scale version of the ongoing tragedy that is Venezuela.

Art DeJong Sheboygan

Helping to reduce STD’s

I am writing in response to the excellent Ideas Lab article on Sept. 9 (“Protecting Milwaukee’s teens in an STD hot spot”).

I have not reviewed 300 programs, but I have taught teens about healthy, life-giving relationships for the past 35 years. I believe the information that the more teens know the better. I believe abstinence programs have been proven to be effective only when the chance for reinforcing the information is provided.

Youth need to hear about the qualities that form healthy relationships: respect, dignity, honesty, chastity, integrity and more. They need to hear this message from parents, (especially parents), teachers, coaches, church ministers, relatives and all adults who work with youth. The physical well-being of our youth is vital and so is their psychological, emotional and social well-being. A youth once said to me, “Nobody ever tells you that you can’t put a condom on a broken heart.”

If we teach youth how to develop friendships and how to truly love one another, giving them the knowledge to make informed decisions, I believe they have a chance for a lifetime of health and happiness. If only each youth had a trusted adult to turn to in times of having to make tough decisions. Thanks to all who fill those roles.

Mary Osep New Berlin

Undeserved campaign boosterism

Recently several letters to the editor could easily have been political ads for Gov. Scott Walker or President Donald Trump (“Give Gov. Walker credit” and “Trump has a great record so far,” Sept. 16).

The position in these letters is that each politician should be given credit for good that has occurred during his or her term in office. Certainly the outcome of policy initiatives that politicians propose can be directly attributed to them, and the success of those initiatives should be recognized.

But some accolades go too far. For example, is it appropriate to conclude that “you are simply wearing blinders” if you don’t believe that pretty much all economic gains that are now occurring are not “fueled by the Trump tax and regulation cuts?” Remember the recovery that is occurring started in June of 2009 under the Obama administration and has amounted to the longest sustained economic recovery this country has experienced. Similarly, while the stock market is at all-time highs, remember that it, too, started its strong recovery in 2009.

If we attribute all success to the current politicians, is it then also fair to attribute failures or problems to them? For example, the AP has reported that as a result of the “tax cuts and expected increases in defense and increases in domestic programs, the federal budget deficit as a percentage of the total economy will exceed 4.5% of GDP next year — nearly double what it was three years ago.” The deficit will soon hit a trillion dollars, which is an increase of 32% this fiscal year.

If the president does not address the adverse consequences of the tax cuts he championed, the federal programs needed to assist citizens will be gutted. If the president continues to stop funding the State Department and humanitarian programs abroad, military action may be the only course of action this country can pursue.

To me this information indicates that the president and this Congress are not making America great. They are making America further in debt and greatly dependent on military action. And to what end?

Robert Storm Wauwatosa