Supes United

PLEASE NOTE that Santa Cruz County is very much a democratic stronghold. You cannot get elected unless you support subsidized (not to be confused with affordable) housing. Ellen Pirie, Neal Coonerty, John Leopold, etc., are all pro-subsidized housing.  

 Bob Schneider,
Soquel

 

Scoop le Poop

LATELY I've been walking down Highway 9/River Street, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but dog poop on the middle of the sidewalk! What kind of person allows their dog to poop on the sidewalk and doesn't clean it up? A few days later, same thing! I thought that only homeless people were nasty. I was wrong.

Shawn Cancilla,
Santa Cruz

Dose Story Hilarious

THAT IS the funniest story I have ever read in my life ("Field Tripping," Feature, Jan. 28). Normally when I come across a long story I skip it, but I could not stop reading this and literally laughing out loud as I pictured it in my head. Thankfully the teacher had done acid before. There are stories of the CIA dosing agents without telling them about it and one agent committed suicide because he thought he was going crazy.

Jennifer Heitz,
New Albany, Ind.

Us Too, Phil

THE STORY about Mr. Moss getting dosed by one of his students was entertaining and wonderful. Though the visuals of a trip while trying to control a high school field trip is frightening, the story was a wonderful and entertaining one.

Thank you for running this and allowing it to be shared. I hope none of my future students try to give me acid while I'm unaware!

Philip Metz,
Gainesville, Fla.

California's Political Prisoners

DID YOU know that there are still thousands of non-violent men and women serving 25-years-to-life sentences in California's prison system? It's the only state that warehouses criminals for crimes like joyriding, petty theft, attempted burglary, receiving stolen property, making criminal threats and petty drug possession.

These inmates receive no type of work time or good credits. But someone who commits murder does receive these credits and is eligible for parole after 17 years. A non-violent three-strike inmate does not receive good time, work time behavior credits and must serve the full 25 years before considered illegible for parole.

California continues to have enormous budget deficits and a prison system that is extremely overcrowded--draining state funds that would normally go to education and communities. However, legislatures continue to portray non-violent three-strike inmates as dangerous criminals who deserve a life sentence for crimes that ordinarily would carry six month to one-year county jail sentences.

Most of these inmates have already served over half their sentences and are up in age. They will surely need the medical funds that the federal receiver is asking for in order to bring California's prison system into compliance with the Constitution.

The majority of these offenders have never killed, molested, raped or committed violent acts against anyone. Most are drug abusers who have committed petty theft related offenses and with the proper drug and alcohol treatment could become productive tax paying citizens, instead of tax burdens.

California is being fleeced by politicians who want to build more prisons and continue warehousing non-violent three-strike inmates, all the while knowing the expense of such policies grow exponentially each and every year.

The California prison system should not be allowed to continue draining the state's assets for political gain--all while breaking the back of education and much needed human resource groups.

Education and treatment, not prisons, are the best investments for California's tax dollars.

Larry Wallace,
Folsom State Prison

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