Letters to the editor Oct. 20

Crime lab delays

I am writing on behalf of my brother Dave and all Montana residents who are at risk due to inadequate funding of the state crime lab.

On the Fourth of July, my brother lost his wife and daughter in a head-on collision near their home in Kalispell. The official police report quoted eye witnesses that the driver of the other vehicle had allegedly crossed over the center-line and crashed into the small Ford pickup truck driven by Katie Barten. Her mother, Alice Barten, was a passenger. Both of the ladies died at the scene of the accident.

First responders who removed the driver from the other vehicle allegedly reported an overwhelming odor of alcohol from the driver and sole occupant of his full-size Chevy pickup. Law enforcement officials obtained a warrant to test the driver’s blood, but the state crime lab took almost 90 days to return the results.

Words cannot express the shock and confusion that has occurred when the suspect was released after a brief stay in the hospital. I can assure you that in Alabama, a suspected drunk driver is not released until he is charged and posts a bond, if able. I believe the difference between Montana and Alabama is that the Alabama crime lab can process a simple blood alcohol test within a day or two, not the 90 days it took in Montana for this case.

A warrant for the arrest of this other driver was released earlier this month. At the time of writing this letter, he was at large, and could be anywhere, possibly putting drivers in Montana or surrounding states at risk.

I would ask that before another husband and father senselessly loses his wife and daughter, that Gov. Steve Bullock address the Legislature to immediately fund the crime lab to a level that could keep suspected intoxicated criminals incarcerated.

­—Dean Barten, Owens Cross Roads, Alabama

It takes courage

A letter to Sen. Daines:

Many view the present challenge to our republic as a troubling hour. It is, instead, a critical but wonderful moment in history when the design of our Constitution can prove its mettle through the actions of the guardians charged with its protection. I am an attorney and, like you, a solemnly sworn servant of the Constitution and the rule of law, and, while I am a lifelong Democrat, I am also a Montanan, and you are my Senator.

Of course it takes courage to risk political power to stand unwaveringly for principled government in this age of extreme rhetoric. But the members of our democratically elected Congress are free agents of conscience and are only enslaved by the trumpets of power or the wiles of calculated narrative when by their own desires for political outcomes they are enticed and dragged away.

You now face a choice: to support or offer excuse for a shameless attack on Constitutional tripart governance, or to defend our republic with all the might of the office entrusted to you. And who knows but that you have come to your position of service for such a time as this?

While a serpentine whisper may suggest a third route — shrewd silence until the popular winds blow favorably — if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for our country will arise from another place, but the legacy of your service will perish.

—Allan McGarvey, Kalispell

Citizens who pray

Citizens who pray are the backbone of our country. They are courageous. They are not fearful of one another nor of people who are strangers. They see the face of God in all people. They draw their strength from the Lord and His Spirit of truth and holiness. Citizens who pray are the backbone of America.

­­—John Lavin, Kalispell