Speed traps
Speed traps
Apparently, the state highway patrol takes its law-and-order responsibilities too lightly. I am addressing our need for order on our highways. Other states have very visible police cars. They represent the law, and they promote order. Rarely is a ticket necessary because a visible police car performs that function. Not so in Hawaii.
As Rod Thompson pointed out in a recent Tribune-Herald letter, police along the newest stretch of Saddle Road are practicing entrapment. Motorists’ only reminder of the changes in speed limits are penalized by the police ticketing them for what are often simple oversights.
Several years ago, I experienced a different speed trap. Returning from Kailua-Kona on the Hawaii Belt Road at Puuanahulu, I was ticketed for speeding. Unmarked police cars were nailing motorists who missed the tiny 5-by-5-inch mph signs, even when driving at prudent speeds for the properly marked highway. A police force fully aware of the kinky path of the highway at that point could have stationed police cars with conspicuously marked cars and official signs. Their very visibility would be a deterrent.
The principle is first, order; next, enforcement. Arbitrary pouncing on unsuspecting motorists undermines respect for the law. It also gives tourists an undesirable talking point when they go home and tell of our state’s speed traps. For many of us locals being directed to a Waimea court to defend one’s self adds additional expenses, and not doing so is to risk an increase in automobile insurance.
Spike Werner
Hilo
Keep him in jail
It is disturbing that Daniel Schuster, the man who stabbed and killed someone in Honomu, is being let out of jail because the family of the victim is requesting it. I’m sorry, but he committed murder. He belongs in jail.
Does someone else need to be killed or hurt by him? It states that he was doing meth and he STABBED and KILLED someone. What happened to the mandatory life sentence with a possibility of parole, which is the punishment for second-degree murder? I do not believe that 15 months is anywhere near long enough for a punishment for the crime he has committed. People with marijuana charges go to jail for a lot longer than that.
I hope that no one else gets hurt or wounded or killed by this man, especially any of my loved ones. It is not fair to everyone in the community to let this man roam free and put all of the innocent at risk. It makes me feel unsafe and unprotected by our judicial system.
Summer Roper
Volcano
Civil rights for all
This is in response to Marie Ruhland’s letter of Nov. 5 (Your Views, Tribune-Herald).
Ms. Ruhland, I take issue with many of the statements in your letter about same-sex marriage. First of all, let’s look at the actual definition of marriage.
According to the several dictionaries I consulted, marriage is defined as “the legally, religiously, or socially sanctioned union of persons who commit to one another, forming a familial and economic bond.”
As for the “proponents” needing to “choose another term” to describe themselves, I would bet that couples of the same sex who are married never refer to their relationship as a “same-sex” marriage. Marriage is marriage. It need not be qualified as “gay” or “straight.” The idea that some folks feel that their own marriages are somehow threatened by others who choose to be married remains a mystery to me.
You spoke about the 15 states which have legalized marriage for members of the same sex, and how folks there are “living the harmful effects of this decision.” With all due respect, what harmful effects are you referring to?
Statistics show that communities with stable family units, whether gay or straight, are happier, more productive, and have a higher standard of living than communities without such stability. What benefit do we get as a society when we try to prevent people from entering into long-term, stable relationships? How can we deny these Americans the right to legally marry whoever they choose?
This is most definitely the civil rights issue of our time. Don’t you want to live in a country where civil rights are guaranteed for all — not just some? Hopefully, our state will choose to be on the right side of history.
Tandy Newsome
Mountain View