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Don’t be fooled, because it really can happen here

Letters to the Editor

DEAR EDITOR: “It can’t happen here,” many people say. I would agree with you, but then, we’d both be wrong. A recent movie was released, “Judgment at Nuremberg,” which tells the story of the post WWII trials uncovering the German leadership’s role in supporting Nazi dictatorship and the crimes against humanity as carried out by law during WWII. At the end of the film, there is a quote: “If you think the next time it happens, we’re going to recognize it because they’re wearing scary uniforms ... you’re out of your damn mind.” It emphasizes that future ...

Experience isn’t all that matters for local judges

Letters to the Editor

DEAR EDITOR: On Oct. 17, 2024, the world shattered for the family of Nick Stoian. He was tragically killed in a car accident. What followed throughout the next 14 months was constant salt in the wound for his family. The judge charged with deciding the fate of all involved chose extreme leniency. The fact that only a one-year license suspension was imposed is a slap in the face to the entire Stoian family. Further, the community service requirements discussed with the widow prior to sentencing were reduced after the fact. Now Judge Thomas Campbell’s campaign is smearing Shelley ...

Support judge’s efforts on abortion law language

Letters to the Editor

DEAR EDITOR: I’m writing this letter in regard to domestic court Judge David Engler’s efforts to change the current Ohio law where parents don’t need to have knowledge of whether their minor child is getting an abortion. It’s absurd that language was used to sneak this by us voters. I’m glad I support Judge Engler’s taking on the entire state to get that law changed. The way it exists now, a pedophile can take your minor daughter into an abortion clinic and have no questions asked. TERRY ERWIN Niles

A secret act of judicial tyranny

Editorials

In a famous Supreme Court one-liner, reminding the legal community of the finality of the court's rulings, the late Justice William J. Brennan Jr. is reputed to have said that the Constitution means whatever any five of us say it means. This reflects the basic math that five is a majority of nine. It also reflects the theory of realism in constitutional jurisprudence. Realism, in this context, is the view that the Constitution is stagnant and unenforceable of its own existence. Realism teaches that the Constitution is only enforceable when the government voluntarily complies with it or ...

Ohio tax abolition campaign stumbles; opposition grows

Editorials

From a variety of perspectives, the Ax OH Tax movement to abolish all local property taxes in Ohio is going over like the proverbial lead balloon. Consider: ● Its nearly yearlong drive to collect its goal of 620,000 ballot-access petition signatures as of last week has fallen woefully short, lacking 315,000 needed signers. And time is running short for their submission to state officials to qualify for this fall’s ballot. ● A mushrooming coalition of more than 65 organizations and local governments across the state have united under the banner of Ohioans to Protect Public ...

Don’t let Ramaswamy shut down Ohio’s universities

Letters to the Editor

DEAR EDITOR: The idea of closing universities across Ohio isn’t bold reform; it’s intellectual disarmament. When Vivek Ramaswamy proposes dismantling public institutions like Youngstown State University, it’s framed as an efficiency or a necessary correction. But beneath that language is something more troubling: a willingness to strip communities of the very infrastructure that makes civic life, economic mobility and human creativity possible. In places like Youngstown, a university is not a burden; it is a lifeline. It trains nurses who staff local hospitals, teachers who ...