Letters to the Editor (2/5)

Admit it: Who didn’t clean the bathroom?

Dear Editor:

I need your help in finding out who is responsible for maintaining the outdoor bathroom on the Ahwatukee Golf course property.

The bathroom is on Magic Stone Drive, east of the corner of Tonopah and Magic Stone drives.

I have contacted the Ahwatukee Country Club, Ahwatukee Board of Management and the city of Phoenix, and no one seems to be able to do anything. The bathroom is an eyesore and insult to our beautiful community.

The building is in desperate need of repair and paint, and no one seems to be able to force the country club to keep their property up to Ahwatukee community standards.

If there is anyone who could assist in making sure that this eyesore is taken care of, I would forever be grateful to them.

Mary Gill

Don’t let murderers out until all their crimes have been investigated

Dear Editor:

Invariably, bills come to the Legislature, and they need the attention of victims and victims’ families.

The assumption is that many of the inmates now serving time were tried and convicted for all crimes that they committed. This is not true. 

Some current convicted murderers committed horrendous crimes and did not come clean on other capital crimes or plea bargained their current sentence if other charges were dropped. The results are untried and cold cases.

Currently, House Bill 2525, related to capital sentencing, states inmates sentenced “to life in prison shall be eligible for parole after serving twenty-five calendar years.” If there is a consecutive sentence, then the inmate must serve that sentence.

This bill does not go far enough to ensure that: (1) all capital crimes committed by the inmate have been fully investigated whether tried or not; (2) damages the concept of justice for victims murdered and not allowed to live full lives; and (3) muddies the concept of a life sentence.

Again it would appear that for the likelihood of reduced costs, victims are being shoved out of the criminal justice process. Recently, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission made an adjustment for a $305,500 budget reduction to victim services. With that, this bill also seems to modify justice without consideration of victims to the point of releasing inmates.

I recommend that Arizona citizens, especially victims’ families, contact legislators and encourage them to vote against HB 2525. If Arizona is going to adjust sentencing for murder then it should do it at the table with victims present and in support of the comprehensive sentence restructuring ... and on a “from this day forward” basis.

Simply hoping that victims will forget, go away or relax so that the budget can be balanced on victims’ backs is inadequate at best, piecemeal in process and crude fiscal management without the consideration of protection of citizens. Silence creates cold cases; don’t be silent on HB2525.

The “oops-we-gotta-balance-the-budget” plus “we-are-sorry-your-family-member-was-murdered” equation just doesn’t work. The truth in sentencing is that the Legislature should uphold justice.

Arizonans who have a family member or friend who was victimized by murder prior to Aug. 8, 1973 need to contact their local prosecutor about their case. Cold-case evidence is to be held for 55 years.

Mike Durham