Juvenile sentencing, campus rape, torture: Objections

Letters to the editor:

Strict sentences

I was flabbergasted and enraged by James Alan Fox's commentary "Give juvenile lifers a second chance: Column."

If you harm someone physically or mentally, a proportional punishment should be exacted, regardless of the age of the perpetrator(s). If you take someone's life, then you give a life in exchange. Yes, it's that black and white to me.

Furthermore, victims of these often ghastly crimes or their surviving family members and/or other relatives should be allowed to weigh in, if not ultimately determine the sentences imposed. Until a person has some skin in the game, it's easy to talk about leniency.

Edward Lumas; Grand Rapids, Mich.

Focus on rape

"The great campus rape hoax: Column" is a misleading and insulting headline. Apparently, the author, Glenn Harlan Reynolds, has little personal experience with victims of sexual abuse. Otherwise, Reynolds might understand why rape so frequently goes unreported: shame from the experience, fear of the assailant and public skepticism.

Unfortunately, Reynolds waits until the last paragraph to state, "Even one rape is too many, of course, on or off of campus." One rape is too many. That is the real headline.

Kevin Jerram; Winooski, Vt.

Support for Cheney

The liberalism of Paste BN's Editorial Board is really becoming quite tiresome. Dick Cheney's idealism and his quest for justice and protection of the American Way fall under harsh criticism in your editorial ("To Dick Cheney, facts just don't matter: Our view").

Guess what? The tactics worked! However, now we are on track to allow our enemies full access to everything we do! Is that a wise path? I think not.

Keep it up, Paste BN, and we will lose all that we've fought for.

Tracy B. Gerhart; Ontario, Ohio