Forum Letters: Overcoming trauma and pain and Holding officers accountable

Requiring ethnic studies in schools

“Will the ethnic studies plan include Pacific Islanders and Arab Americans? Eventually” (sacbee.com, Aug. 14):

I worked in California Community Colleges for 36 years and now 10 years as a retired adjunct.

CSU Sacramento has had a Race and Ethnicity Requirement for 30+ years. CSU Chico has had a United States Diversity and Global Cultures Requirement for as long. The other 21 CSUs have similar graduation requirements. The CSU system and individual universities should have no problem adjusting these existing requirements to meet the new law. It is not a hardship.

Most of the initial ethnic studies courses were developed for the ethnic groups themselves because traditional history and other courses paid little attention to them. Over the last few decades there has been an effort to immerse ethic studies into traditional courses. There is still a need for educated citizens to be knowledgeable of the diverse world we live in and its history.

There should be a similar requirement for high school graduation.

Henry Brown,

Chico

Thank you, Vlade

“Vlade Divac is beloved in Sacramento as a Kings player. It’s quite the opposite as GM” (sacbee.com, Aug. 15):

Greg Wissinger wrote an intelligent and compassionate article that puts Vlade Divac’s resignation into appropriate perspective for many fans.

Very well done.

Craig Rieser,

Sacramento

Holding officers accountable

“2 California correctional officers kept jobs after beating inmate and lying, report says” (sacbee.com, Aug. 19):

The correctional officers who brutally beat a mentally ill inmate and lied in their report about it, is another example of why we are having civil unrest and distrust of police.

They were were disciplined with only a week or so suspension. For those who have experienced police misconduct, is it any wonder why they don’t trust police? The officers should have been prosecuted for battery and filing a false report and fired. Until officers are held to answer for egregious misconduct with serious punishment, such misconduct will continue. In the absence of a registry listing “bad cops” and standards barring employment of officers on the registry, the conduct will continue as they can just go to another agency.

Without serious disciplining officers who are aware of misconduct and fail to report it, the culture of protecting their own will continue, as will the brutality and the distrust of law enforcement.

William Schmidt,

Wilton

Rent is too high

“Stricter Sacramento rent control measure is back on the November ballot — for now” (sacbee.com, Aug. 19):

When considering the “strictness” of rent control it’s important to know that all modern rent controls in California, including Measure C, are fairly lax in that they allow landlords to hike up the initial rent to any amount for new tenants.

This is called “vacancy decontrol” and it’s been the law of California since 1995 when a state law called Costa-Hawkins was enacted, restricting the types of rent control cities can pass. My point is that Measure C is not that strict. The affordable housing crisis is so severe that we actually need stricter rent control as well as publicly owned social housing. It’s time for California legislators and Gov. Newsom to follow the example of New York’s legislators and Gov. Cuomo by eliminating vacancy decontrol, so that rents for new tenants are controlled as well. The rent is too damn high!

We need universal rent control and social housing now.

Phillip Kim,

Sacramento

Wake up, Republicans

“‘This is not a partisan moment’: 6 takeaways from the Democratic National Convention” (sacbee.com, Aug. 20):

I am looking forward to witnessing the Republican Party leadership support President Trump at the Republican National Convention, as did the Democratic Party. Oh wait, former President George W. Bush and 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney do not support Trump. Neither did President H.W. Bush or the 2008 Republican nominee John McCain. Republican presidential contender John Kasich chose to attend the Democratic Convention.

When the Republican Party leadership fails to support its sitting president’s re-election, that should be a wake up call to mainstream Republican voters. Under the stress of losing, Trump’s actions and words get more erratic every day. I urge mainstream Republicans to vote for the best man, Joe Biden, or at the least, abstain, and leave the check box on the ballot blank. Lindsey Graham referred to Joe Biden “as good a man as God ever created.”

Can anyone say that about Donald Trump?

David Keneller,

El Dorado Hills

Overcoming trauma and pain

“DeAngelo says ‘I’m truly sorry,’ sentenced to life for Golden State Killer rape-murder spree” (sacbee.com, Aug, 21):

Giving relatives of the Golden State Killer’s victims the opportunity to address him may bring them relief from their pain, but whether or not it hurts the murderer is another story.

Since he enjoys inflicting pain, he may relish hearing how much he destroyed the families as well as their victims. I can’t say I enjoyed reading about it and, from the expression on the killer’s face, he was pretty indifferent. I am not a psychologist but I would like one to comment on the healing effects of such an interaction. I felt frustrated for family members when confronted with the inhuman and disinterested expression of the murderer. Are we giving him one more chance to feel important and powerful? Does he have one last chance to inflict his cruel conscience on the world?

In the end, do the suffering feel vindicated, or simply more helpless and frustrated?

Linda Meilink,

Modesto

Withdraw Assembly Bill 3070

“California State Legislature must act to end racial discrimination in jury selection” (sacbee.com, Aug. 22):

The California District Attorneys Association must take issue with Assemblywoman Shirley Weber’s August 22 op-ed on her proposal to radically change jury selection in California.

Prosecutors abhor racism or bias in any aspect of the justice system. Yet this issue is too important for a simplistic quick “fix.” Assembly Bill 3070 should be withdrawn and the diversity task force already created by the California Supreme Court Chief Justice to study this issue should be allowed to finish its work.

In a letter to Weber, the Association of African American California Judicial Officers, the largest organization of African American judges in California, asked that the bill be withdrawn, noting that “far reaching proposals such as AB 3070 should be subject to full review and discussion before it is offered to the full Assembly for consideration.”

Sound advice, and we urge the Legislature to heed it.

Vern Pierson,

Sacramento