In a guest column on April 15, Sen. Orrin Hatch offers a nice lesson in American history. Yes, the Supreme Court has had anywhere from 6 to 9 justices at any given time. Yes, sometimes the Court has had an even number of justice. And yes, sometimes a justice has taken a leave of absence. But Justice Antonin Scalia did not take a leave to argue in front of the Nuremberg Court in Germany. He died suddenly. And not five minutes after his death was made public Sen. Mitch McConnell cloud up the airways with his pronouncements about the Senate not doing their constitutional duty. Did he poll his entire Republican caucus when he spoke for them?
For Hatch to argue that ignoring vacancies is normal behavior, as proven by history, is a perfect example of political rationalization. To not give a qualified man a hearing, when he was overwhelming approved by the same body for the second highest court in the land, is just outrageous. No amount of justification can get around that. And to say that the court could “simply reschedule any cases that resulted in split decisions” is just a lie. There is nothing simple about getting a case into the U.S. Supreme Court. Thousands of cases are presented to the Court every year, yet the justices choose to consider only about 80.
Hatch and his fellow Senate Republicans are shirking their responsibilities. They are writing a disgraceful chapter in American history.
Jan Goldberg, Riverside
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Treating mentally ill as criminals
Thank you for your April 14 editorial “Treating Mentally Ill as Criminals Destroys Lives, Wastes Money.” It was a greatly needed report on what the Cook County criminal justice system is doing wrong when it comes to arresting mental ill defendants. It also offered some hope with regard to the soon -to- be- established triage center for assessing mentally ill arrestees.
The League of Women Voters of Cook County through its Criminal Justice Interest Group has been studying the problems of the initial period from arrest through trial. In our report, “Pre-Trial Systems”, we listed 11 recommendations for improving justice for detainees. One of our recommendations mirrors the one that you stressed in this piece, the 40-hour training for police officers in mental health awareness. It has been proven to de-escalate potential explosive situations at the scene.
Diane Edmundson, Park Ridge
Karin Hribar, Arlington Heights
