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Show ljtesjdeRevjewjryday, March 31 .1998 5 Letters to the Editor An injustice in the justice systems I would like witness to not tell the whole truth. Sgt McKinney is a black enlisted man. Lt. Col Oliver North during the Affair had seven felony counts brought against him and was convicted of three of them. One of them being obstruction of justice. He destroyed tons of material that could have convicted him and many others of serious crimes. It was conveniently arranged so that he was never demoted at the 18 1 point in his career and he was able to continue his career and retire with full retirement pay. And probably received a chest full of honors and who knows what else was stuffed in his pockets. Not long after his retirement he was a millionaire. Lt. Col North was a white officer. You see this kind of thing everyday. Maybe the poorer class of people should stand up for themselves and demand that the justice system be a little more to point out what I believe is a terrible injustice with both our civilian and military justice systems. Often I feel that the person is not convicted and sentenced as much by the crime that was committed but more so by who committed the Iran-Cont- ra crime. The way I have seen it over the years is, if you are a graduate of an elitist college and commit a crime, your chances of a lesser charge and sentence or no conviction is much greater than if you were a minority or poor white person. And the theory that our system uses is that the elitist white population is not considered a threat to society. This isnt so. During my time in the military and since then, I have often seen where officers are shown leniency while enlisted persons are demoted and given less than honorable discharges. Here is an example. It may not be the best example but it does compare an officers case to an enlisted mans case. Sgt Major McKinney, the top enlisted man in the Army, was recently convicted of obstruction of justice. He was demoted one grade which will reduce his retirement pay and it ended his military career in less than an honorable way. The obstruction of justice was based on him trying to get a fair. I believe we need to demand harsher sentencing for the elitist white population that commit felony crimes and for white white-collcriminals who steal hundreds of millions of dollars from the poorer class of people and our government. ar Dennis McClune Layton Government Directory Commissioner Gayle Stevenson (R) Davis County Courthouse 28 E. State Farmington, Utah 84025 Office 451-320- 6 Home Francine Luczak 4 Home William Nelson 0 Home Rick Bangerter 4 Home Ron Russell Home 295-37292-427- 292-993- 292-262- 0 Commissioner Dannie 298-019- McConkie (R) Davis County Courthouse 28 E. State Farmington, Utah 84025 Office Mass meetings lack the masses states two political parties - OK, states major and minor political parties - to reconsider the way they pick their candi- It is time for the dates. During every partisan election delegates to the Democratic and Republican county and state conventions are picked through a process of supposedly grass-root- s neighborhood mass meetings. In theory anyone can go to their neighborhood location and either run for a delegate position, or at least have a voice in who gets to be a delegate. The delegates then have all the power in determining which candidates appear on the primary election ballots. The problem is it doesnt really work that way. Poor turnout at the mass meetings in essence puts the power of determining w'ho the candidates are in the hands of a ' select few of party regulars. Instead of being a way of , bringing the election process directly to the people, the mass n system sim ! meeting-conventio- ply puts the power in good ol boy networks. Those who benefit the most are the incumbents, who already have their networks in place and can get their regulars out to attend the mass meetings, and thus become voting delegates. If a candidate has a strong enough network, and he can gather at least 70 percent of the vole at the county convention, he can eliminate all competition from the primary. In Davis County where the Republican party is basically the only party, a race can be decided before regular folk like you and I even get a chance to vote. In the Davis Sheriff's race, at least one of the candidates running will never appear on the ballot. With three Republicans vying for the scat, one, and possibly two, could be eliminated from the ballot. Usually in sheriffs races you have factions within the law enforcement community that support particular candidates, mostly within the sheriffs office itself. This years race in Davis County is no exception. Incumbent Rob Davis is being challenged by one of his own captains. Bud E. Cox. The third candidate is Utah Department of Public Safety Lt. A.C. Andy Anderson. He faces an uphill battle because he is basically an outsider. Now, Anderson can use that as a part of his campaign, but instead of going directly to the voters he has to go to a select few of delegates who may already have allegiance to the other two camps. If all three candidates appeared on the ballot, then voters would have a clear choice and the winner would then have a clear mandate. As it stands, we may never know who would be the true candidate of the people. The county and state conventions should be eliminated and the parties should go directly to an open primary ballot. Those who defend the mass meetings and conventions say it is a way for the party to weed out candiextremists or dates. Whether, thats true or not, I still think the best process is one in which the voting public makes the first cut of candidates. This is formula. the truest grass-rooIn Utah, where the Republican party is so strong, it is important for the voters to feel they have a voice. Let the people vote. Andy Howell can be reached weekdays at non-serio- ts 776-495- 1. Clearfield City Council 451-32- Mayor Thomas Waggoner 1 Home Ivan D. Anderson 0 Home Diane Layton Home 825-78James W. Barlow 3 Home Curtis Oda 6 Home Carr L. Roundy Home 773-56- Commissioner Carol R. Pape (R) Davis County Courthouse 28 E. State Farmington, Utah 84025 Office 825-565- 825-695- 45 451-32- Bountiful City Council 773-828- Mayor John Cushing 2 Home Harold Shafter 9 Home Barbara I (olt 9 Home Sam Fowler 5 Home Alan Johnson 0 Home Stewart Know ton Home 231-49- 773-979- 295-609- 295-533- Clinton City Council 295-544- Mayor DeMar Mitchell 1 Home Dennis Simonsen 8 Home Arverd Taylor 3 Home Joanne Hansen Home 773-42Richard Lee 5 Home Merlin Mitchell 2 Home 773-583- 295-502- 825-841- 295-630- 1 776-086- Centerville City Council Mayor Frank V. Hirschi Home 295-91Michael Barton 825-689- 773-195- Kingston f. Bpvaift Most Relics lloil Ever! Get your order today and avoid the rush! in Jr 8 There is limited Presents... Easter Pageant 98 THE CHOICE As Low As $40Month Financing Available $200 Rebate Available 90 Days Same As Cash production on some models of this product and we expect a high demand on this new, quieter, environmentally safe cooing system; energy-efficien- t, Wed. Apr. 22 at 7 p.m. 2430 N. 400 W. 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