Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 4-12-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, April 12, 2018 Editorial & Opinions
Serving “The World’s Fruit Basket” since 1891
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION
Jon Earnest — Editor
Chris Aguirre — Sports Editor Felicia Cousart Matlosz — Panorama Editor Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all — he’s walking on them.”
— Leonard Louis Levinson
Personally, I have to admit that I was some- what taken aback by the response of a reader to my use of the aphorism “A rising tide lifts all boats.” An aphorism is defined as a terse saying that embodies a general truth or astute observation.
Reedley Relay for Life still feels the impact of Denise Hamstrom
Although I failed to attribute it, the say-
ing is generally credited to John F. Kennedy
and is associated with the idea that general improvements in the economy will benefit all participants in the economy. Kennedy used it
in a 1963 speech to combat criticism that a dam
project he was inaugurating was a pork barrel project.
I do take umbrage with being called “ignorant” simply because of a long list of “privileges” which the writer chooses to presume that I enjoy. Name calling of a subject about whom one has no knowledge is always a dangerous tack to assume. “Privilege” and “racism” have become far too common and predictable on behalf of members of our society. When such terms are so freely overused they completely lose their intended impact.
The writer should be thanked for reading the newspaper and recognized for her willingness to get involved in affairs which im- pact the entire community. We admire her fortitude. We believe the original intent of newspapers was not only to inform but provide a means of civil discourse on public issues — a very different man- date than today’s social media which is unedited and anything goes! Seldom will one find any sort of civilized discussion therein.
In the event you may not have seen the letter of which I speak, it’s available in the April 5 edition of The Dinuba Sentinel. A copy is available for review on their website, or you can pick up an issue at one of Mid Valley’s locations in Reedley, Sanger or Dinuba.
Most people have lived in California long enough that they are no longer surprised to discover that there actually are consulting firms that aid and abet governmental and quasi-governmental agen- cies in packaging and assisting in selling tax increases to the vot- ers. Just a few years ago, a large Bay Area consultant group swept through the Valley helping small towns get the vote out to support an item which was packaged as a “safety tax.”
A slanted telephone “survey” was undertaken, using fear tactics, to prove to area small towns that the voters would support pay- ing more money in the name of “safety.” Purportedly, the money collected was to be spent on enhancing police and fire protection through improvements which were to be funded exclusive of gen- eral fund expenditures.
Fortunately, some of these little towns had the foresight to “sun- set” the tax. Reedley was not one of those, with the tax passing in perpetuity. That simply means it never goes away. Others saw the need to end the tax on a certain date but have abused the sudden availability of extra money.
We see this as a cautionary tale against citizens ever voting to impose a tax on themselves — whether it’s a bond issue or a simple tax. Everyone, especially in California, would realize by now that when money is taken from the private sector and placed at the dis- cretion of bureaucrats one can always anticipate mischief in the way those funds are spent. Our recommendation is that citizens should always turn a jaundiced eye to those in government when they say they need more money.
Empirical figures, as well as experience, should have proved to all of us by now that when people who did not work for your money get their hands on it, it’s a safe bet they will squander what you labored for. If you believe I am wrong, please provide an example of how tax money is carefully spent.
But, as always, that’s one man’s opinion.
Every year, the Luminaria cer- emony is perhaps the most emotional event of the Reedley Relay for Life. It’s where family, friends and loved ones purchase a white sack filled with sand and a candle. The sacks have names written on them — signifying a cancer survivor or in memory of a person who has died.
At sunset, volunteers light the candles to the sacks, which have been neatly stacked and lined around the walking track at the Reedley High School practice field. There also are bags stacked on a assertion of portable bleachers to spell out the word “hope.”
This year’s Relay Luminaria will be especially poignant, as Denise Hamstrom will be in the thoughts of many participants. Hamstrom — profiled in The Exponent before last year’s fundraising event – died Nov. 15 after an eight-year battle with breast cancer and high grade lymphoma.
Brandy McNelly, a longtime vol- unteer for the Reedley Relay for Life, said the death of her close friend wasn’t just a personal loss but a fun- draising challenge for volunteers.
Hamstrom was last year’s top money raiser.
“This year, without her here to do what she does, I kind of followed in her footsteps,” McNelly said. She was the top fundraiser for 2018 for the Relay after she received a $1,500 donation from Dayka & Hackett, a Reedley-based grower.
Lisa McAndrew, this year’s Reed- ley Relay chair, said the reality of not having Hamstrom’s money-raising dynamic sent a message to all who volunteer for the event. “It just gives you a different perspective and a dif- ferent push,” she said.
McNelly said the past year for Relay volunteers has been a conflict of emotions. “We’ve had a lot of re- ally positive outcomes, but we also have a lot that we’ve lost,” she said. “Honestly, that just pushes us harder because we have to have more in the plus column than the minus column. We’ve just got to keep pushing.”
The activities at Reedley High School’s practice field north of the football stadium and southwest of the baseball diamond begin at 9 a.m.
Saturday, April 14,
with the Survivors
& Caregivers lap.
Themed laps will be
held throughout the
day and night, sand-
wiched around the
Luminaria ceremo-
ny starting at 7 p.m.
A closing ceremony
will be at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 15.
•••
The city of Reedley once again
will host a residential free spring clean-up event this Saturday, April 14, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Reedley Sports Park 2453 E. Dinuba Ave. It’s an opportunity for residents to clear the house or apartment of bulky items, sofas, chairs, carrot, metal, electronic waste, appliance and green waste. Even automobile and light truck tires without rims (five tires per household) will be accepted.
Donors need only to provide proof of Reedley residency with a valid driver’s license and a city of Reedley utility bill. Dumps are limited to one load per resident.
Fred Hall
Jon Earnest
Police accountability and qualified immunity
By Laura Finley
Guest columnist
The family of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old unarmed black man who was shot by Sacramento police, has filed a lawsuit in federal court, denouncing his death as yet one more police-perpetrated murder. The officers were responding to complaints about a car prowler when they fired 20 shots in fewer than five seconds at Clark. Eight bullets struck him, primarily in the back, rais- ing tremendous doubt about the officers’ claims that he was a threat. The autopsy indicates that Clark lived for three to 10 minutes after be- ing shot, which brings up ad- ditional concerns about the six minutes it took for him to receive medical treatment. While the case is a horrific but not surprising example of police shooting first and asking questions later — or more accurately, creating narratives later — it is far from guaranteed that the family will receive any kind of recompense from the of- ficers who killed him.
Police have what is
known as qualified immu- nity, which means it is very difficult to win lawsuits against them. The idea of qualified immunity makes a certain sense, as it in- tended to ensure that police do not have to worry about frivolous lawsuits, but in the last several decades the Su- preme Court has expanded its protections so dramati- cally it is, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor has said, a li- cense to kill and an “absolute shield for law enforcement officers.” On April 2, the Su- preme Court ruled on anoth- er qualified immunity case, reversing a lower court’s denial of immunity in an 2010 Arizona case in which Officer Andrew Kisela shot a woman, Amy Hughes, four times who was not pos- ing a threat to anyone in her yard. Despite her unthreat- ening behavior toward the officers and her roommate, Sharon Chadwick, who was there, and the account from another officer on site who said he was still trying to use verbal commands to get Hughes to drop the knife, the Court relied on its usual logic to say that no lawsuit
could continue. At least in this case Hughes survived, but that Officer Kisela acted rashly in shooting her seems quite clear.
The Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. §1983 is a ju- dicial remedy to individuals who suffer deprivations of their constitutional rights. An exception is qualified im- munity, which shields state and local law officers from personal financial liability if they acted in an objectively reasonable manner and did not violate clearly estab- lished federal law. In an odd piece of what seems little more than literary wran- gling, the court has deter- mined that officers can act unconstitutionally but not violate established constitu- tional rights, as it is on plain- tiff’s to show those “clearly established” rights through, guess what? Previous court decisions. If the court is unwilling to ever rule that constitutional rights are violated in these excessive force cases, then no one can ever document those deci- sions to build a case. The court has not ruled in favor of the plaintiff in more than
a decade, despite hearing more than 18 cases related to qualified immunity. More than one-third of the cases resulted in summary rever- sals, meaning the court did not even hold a briefing or conduct oral arguments.
Ending police abuse is going to take continued vig- ilance and a multi-faceted approach. But one impor- tant way to hold police ac- countable is for citizens to be able to bring and win civil suits. Today, the play- ing field for doing so is so deeply tilted toward pro- tecting police that there is no semblance of account- ability in the legal realm. Congress can and should remove the “clearly es- tablished” interpretation of qualified immunity, at a minimum. Police officers cannot continue to be given free rein to harass, assault, wound and kill simply be- cause others before them have gotten away with it.
Laura Finley, Ph.D., teaches in the Barry Uni- versity Department of Soci- ology & Criminology in Mi- ami, Fla., and is syndicated by PeaceVoice.
The issue of an unregulated and registered citizenry
By Robert F. Lewis
Guest columnist
It seems prudent to me to observe the recent gun-related violence to a notable day in our early history that speaks to the issue of an unregulated and registered citizenry.
The date was Sept. 7, 1876. On that day, nine members of the James- Younger organization rode into the town of Northfield, Minn. with one item on their to-do list — to remove funds from the First National Bank of Northfield for their personal use.
Placing members of the gang at strategic locations around the town, three members of the group entered the bank with guns drawn and ordered the acting cashier to open the vault. While the cashier and Jesse James dialogued
about the ethics of that action, a citizen approached the door of the back and was told to go away. Recognizing this as poor for business, the citizen looked into the bank and saw that a robbery was taking place. He turned and ran into the street and sounded the alarm.
In the ensuing gun battle, two members of the gang and a horse were shot dead while five more were wound- ed. The recalcitrant cashier was shot dead and a teller was wounded. In the street an unarmed fellow named Gus- tafson was killed. The survivors left town in great haste with their proceeds of nearly $27.
I tell this tale to illustrate the con- sequence of an armed but unregis- tered citizenry. Had today’s more en- lightened society been available to the people of Northfield, their guns would
have been safely stored in the city armory and the James/Younger men would have left town — albeit minus the savings of the town’s citizens — to continue their enterprise of train and bank robbery for the future. The ca- shier and teller would have survived to look for work in a bank that had not been robbed, and the horse and Mr. Gustafson would have lived to pursue their personal goals and aspirations.
Let us all look for a future in America when criminals can be com- forted with the knowledge that their vocation is free of harmful interfer- ence and citizens will know that their proper response to danger is to hide. God bless America!
Robert F. Lewis is a Reedley resi- dent.
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any topic of local relevance. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity or brevity, and we reserve the right to NOT publish them if they could be deemed libelous or profane. Letters should be 300 words or less, and bear the author's name, address, and phone number. Letters can be mailed, emailed (jon@midvalleypublishing. com), submitted via our website, or personally delivered to: Editor, Reedley Exponent, 1130 G St, Reedley CA 93654.