Judge Salerno deserved stronger punishment

Even though The Dispatch gave significant coverage to the misconduct case of Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Amy Salerno ("Justices discipline local judge a 2nd time," Wednesday), chances are voters will not remember to connect the name with the deed when another election rolls around.

Her perversion of justice — changing her guilty verdict in a traffic case to not guilty because the prosecutor annoyed her and reducing a defendant's bond in a drugtrafficking case without notifying the prosecutor that she had been in contact with defense counsel — warrants more than a stayed oneyear suspension by the Ohio Supreme Court. She should be suspended, immediately, for at least a year while she completes ethics training and pays disciplinary costs.

Perhaps Judge Salerno can learn from the story of Franklin County Appeals Court Judge Tim Horton, who never lost an election but will be resigning from the bench this month in shame. Character matters. activism in Franklin County. For the past 40 years, political officials and community members have been fighting for what they believe in, aka Democratic values.

Democrats have worked for their majority and continue to lead with integrity, demonstrating that they deserve that majority. “Stranglehold” implies there isn’t room for anyone else. There is, but the people have not voted for other candidates or parties because they do not trust them with their city.

Second, regarding campaign finance, until Citizens United is overturned, money will be involved in politics. Making that money transparent, though, is a reasonable goal. With my students I always insist, “You have a right to say what you want within the rules of this classroom, but you have to take responsibility for the response to your words.” In Columbus for the first time, we have spending limits, and those who do spend are forced to take responsibility.

Ignoring the broader political climate and the nuance in this situation is intellectually irresponsible.

Clarissa Staley, Columbus

Democrats protect base in opposing border wall

undeserved financial benefits paid for by U.S. citizens; (3) cut down on the volume of illegal drugs that many illegal immigrants bring into our country, and (4) although it’s too late for the California police officer who was recently murdered by an illegal immigrant during a traffic stop, help keep U.S. citizens safer.

Perhaps members of the Democratic Party don’t care whether U.S. citizens are safe. But more likely it has to do with studies done during the past few years which showed that Americans of Hispanic heritage generally vote Democratic, as do Asian-americans. But wait, there’s more: A study conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies found that 62 percent of foreignborn, naturalized citizens identified as Democrats while only 25 percent considered themselves Republicans.

Of course, things can always change, but I suspect the Democratic Party is counting on these statistics to hold for now.

At any rate, contrary to what the Democrats are claiming, their opposition can’t possibly be cost-related since most politicians have absolutely no problem flushing taxpayer dollars down the toilet.

Judith Donaldson, Findlay

Why did advisers allow blackface in yearbooks?