THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408180005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
I agree with your statement that the crime bill (stagnating in Congress) is a crime, but not primarily for the reasons given. Crime prevention must begin with an attack on the basic causes.
Probably most children are taught civilizing ethics in their homes, but there are certainly many who do not benefit from good parenting.
Civilizing ethics must become an integral part of all schooling - from preschool through secondary education. We are all born with a clean slate, but we quickly educate many children to become criminals. We must clean up the TV programs our children are viewing.
Correction of social ills, including poverty and joblessness, would be a giant step forward. If we spent $6 billion on the creation of decent-paying jobs, as President Clinton proposed, there would be less need for the $22 billion (as proposed) for police and prisons.
The excessive crime rate in the United States is certainly related to the labeling of many victimless actions as criminal. To quote a truism from Tao Te Ching: ``The more prohibitions you have the less virtuous people will be.'' I believe most, if not all, victimless crimes should be decriminalized. Some examples: Drug possession and use; prostitution; gambling; any sexual activity between consenting adults. We cannot expect our youth to have respect for laws that seem to be the product of idiocy.
The Second Amendment must be repealed. There is no longer a reason for this amendment. All gun owners and purchasers should have a license and a legitimate reason for possession. Guns don't kill; people kill with available guns. Another truism: ``The more weapons you have, the less secure people will be.''
Police work should be considered a community service, not a community control. We must ask our police to concentrate more on crime prevention than on making arrests for minor violations.
We should reduce or eliminate the use of jails for punishment of non-violent crimes. Imprisonment, particularly with harsh sentences, generates more crime as a result of the anger instilled into the inmate. Many prisoners who are no violent threat to society should be released and held responsible for paying their debt to society by other means.
W. P. GLOVER
Virginia Beach, July 26, 1994
Suzanne Shore Barley, Dr. Glover's daughter, writes that the above letter to the editor was her father's last: He passed away on Aug. 4.
Ms. Barley, who lives in Cape Hatteras, N.C., adds: ``He cured our aches and pains and questioned our beliefs, which is always good because it leads to confirmation or change. He provoked thought. His contributions to the people of this community were as selfless as his letters to this paper were sometimes piercing.
``He will remain a lost key to a box we've been trying to open, and his passing will also leave a small void in the editorial page - smaller yet since now a writer may have printed only one letter every six months, which is another thing he had something to say about.'' by CNB