
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 18, 1995                   TAG: 9507190012
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WYTHE PRISON

BEFORE THE issue is settled about whether to build a for-profit prison in Wythe County, its supervisors and citizens may be as familiar with the inside of a courtroom as the prisoners who would be housed there.

After filing one unsuccessful lawsuit seeking the removal of a county supervisor who supports the prison, disgruntled opponents now are absurdly seeking the ouster of another, filing a second, similar petition.

This after the Board of Supervisors voted to drop its countersuit seeking to recover the money that county taxpayers had to spend to defend the actions of one of their elected officials.

So much for calming the waters.

Choosing a site for a prison is often a contentious business. The idea of shipping convicted criminals into one's community - even if they are being held behind prison walls - fosters apprehension. Many folks would rather see lawbreakers heading across the county line in the other direction. That there is dissension over welcoming a private prison operation is hardly surprising.

What is dismaying is the bitterness and vitriol that the opposition has shown, even to the point of attempting to criminalize a political dispute.

As is seen in so much of political life these days, little if any ground is allowed for honorable differences of opinion. If you don't see the issues my way, you must be dumb or crooked - or both. Disagreement is betrayal.

In fact, many varying, sometimes conflicting, but legitimate interests are affected by any government action. Add to these natural conflicts the differences in people's knowledge and experience and values, and simply in how they assess a given situation, and the lack of unanimity about the right thing to do is practically inevitable.

When your judgment of what is right does not carry, what to do? In Wythe County, keeping with the tenor of the times, you haul your opponent into court.

Even if, as in this case, you've been there and done that - and lost.

by CNB