Christians elect fellow Christians to office and then ignore them. When they come under attack, particularly school board members, they do not come to their defense with prayer, support and letters to the editor, but automatically assume what is being said against them is true. This occurred on the Vista School Board where the three conservative Christians were finally recalled. Now it’s happening to Nadia Davies on the Grossmont School Board.
From the moment she took office until now, she has been under attack by the radical teacher’s union and Christians are sitting back and not supporting her. Either Christians are under the naive assumption that we should not be involved in politics or they just don’t want to be involved – and instead hide behind church walls. There may come a day when you can no longer hide. Now is the time to step forward and defend your brothers and sisters in Christ. At least call them to find out what the truth is.
+ + +
Judge Larry Sterling, as continued from last month, stated that there are millions of outstanding warrants in this state. With no incentive to serve them and no governmental oversight of the fact that laws are not being enforced, this is understandable. The state needs to institute a bus network that automatically transports arrestees among counties. Most counties cannot afford to extradite even from neighboring counties. A state bus system (“Con bus”) would immediately solve that problem. Such a system could be integrated into the now existing felon transport operated by the Corrections Department.
Sentencing levels are wholly a matter for the Legislature, not the judiciary. I believe you should think about such felonies as possession of small amounts of drugs, petty theft with a prior and the un-indexed grand-theft threshold of $400. These matters do not appear to me to warrant felony status except for the fact that the misdemeanor system just does not work. Do any of the above warrant more than a year in jail at the local level? And especially when they are “kicker” felonies for a third strike, they are morally difficult to defend. I recommend that you at least consider making each of the above into “wobblers” so that the district attorney or judge can decide, based on the defendant’s record, which is to keep local and which to expose to felony punishment. (More next month; there is much material to consider and possibly offer to our legislators for improving our laws.)
+ + +
How many Governments? A breakdown: Federal, 1; States (plus District of Columbia) 51; Counties, 3043; Cities, about 19,600; School Districts, 14,556; Special districts (including hospitals, fire, mosquito-control and other single-purpose districts), about 32,000. Total: about 85,850 governments, run by 666,000 elected officials. (USA Weekend, DC 12/7/97)
+ + +
HR 1062, the AIDS Prevention Act of 1997 by Congressman Tom Coburn, a physician, treats AIDS like any other sexually transmitted disease. It would require states to inform individuals if they may have been exposed to HIV by a current or past partner. (It is now illegal for a doctor to do so.) It would require that those accused of sexual offenses be tested for HIV.
Criminalize the intentional transmission of HIV and strict confidentiality must be observed at all times in carrying out the provisions of this Act. Write to your congressman and U.S. Senators to support this bill!
Beverly Wyer of El Cajon is a Christian political activist.
