WHERE'S THE JUSTICE?

Given the current enormous arbitrary power of the law enforcement industry,
I hesitate to write this letter.

I must, however, support local attorney Daniel Stotter's call (R-G, 9/4)
for an official sanction of Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad.
Harcleroad's arrogant public criticism of Circuit Court Judge Ted Carp
clearly indicates contempt of court, and it calls into question once again
Harcleroad's judgment, impartiality, and basic fairness.

Examples: the secret tape recording of a Catholic priest administering a
sacrament to a defendant leading to international notoriety and a
substantial settlement; subsequent taping of two ministers' conversations
with defendant Kip Kinkel; the out-of-court settlement to a former
prosecutor for gender discrimination and harassment; the wrongful murder
convictions of two young men and another hefty settlement; Harcleroad's
astounding decision not to prosecute the planned vigilante execution of
22-year old unarmed drug dealer Shawn Carlson; his refusal to prosecute the
man who killed Jacob Fogus, a young Native American, in questionable
circumstances; his exoneration of a police officer who killed an unarmed
suspect; his discrimination against alternative media reporters; his
relentless prosecution of cancer-sickened Norm Majors for cultivating
medical marijuana; his refusal to honor the vote mandating that proceeds
from civil forfeiture drug cases go to drug-treatment programs.

And while a young political activist serves almost 23 years for destroying
three SUVs, Harcleroad plea-bargains a 25-year sentence for a young man who
helped to incapacitate, kidnap and bury his mother alive. And so on.

The district attorney sets the tone for the entire justice system. Where's
the justice?

Jerome Garger

Eugene