Letters to the editor June 4

Judicial nominee blocked

It was disappointing and discouraging to see Sen. Steve Daines block the confirmation of the federal judicial nominee, attorney Danna Jackson.  

Ms. Jackson, who is with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, has excellent credentials and would have been the first Native American federal district court judge for Montana. Daines blocked her confirmation because the administration “never sought his consent prior to her nomination.” Interestingly, members of his team had met with her, but Daines refused to meet with Ms. Jackson. Could it be because she is female? Or because she is Native American? 

 It certainly seems like a poor decision on Daines’ part.

— Rayne Beach, Whitefish

A sad day

It was a sad day for America and what was supposed to be the fairest and most legitimate legal system in the world. President Trump was found guilty on 34 misdemeanor counts that had passed their statute of limitation and were tied to a felony which the prosecutor never revealed until closing argument, leaving no chance for defense rebuttal.  

Initiated by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who ran for office promising to convict the former president of an unidentified crime in a jurisdiction where 85% of the jury poolsuffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome and led by a hand-picked judge who contributed to Democrat campaigns and whose daughter works for Democrats, the outcome was pre-determined. To assure the outcome, the judge repeatedly demonstrated ham-handed rulings against the defense and in favor of the prosecution.  

I am trying to maintain faith in our legal system, though my own experience has been 100% negative. Hopefully, the New York appellate system or the Supreme Court will reverse this travesty. If not, our country is sadly headed for the same downfall as all preceding great civilizations. Who would blame district attorneys from conservative jurisdictions from playing the same game. They could begin by bringing charges against the Biden family, including President Biden, for the bribes taken from foreign adversaries not to mention document violations for his taking top secret documents and sharing them with his biographer and perhaps others.  

I am not hopeful. And worse, another Biden term and what little sanity remains in our country will surely struggle to survive. At least I live in Montana where this progressive elitist prosecution and persecution of conservative principles is less impactful. But I am deeply concerned for my grandchildren. It is painfully obvious to many of us who is the real threat to democracy, and it isn’t President Trump.

— David Myerowitz, Columbia Falls

SB 442 veto

Everyone who has ever set foot on Montana’s public lands knows how valuable they are. Recreating on public land is part of being a Montanan, but public access to public lands is always under attack.

Senate Bill 442 would have set aside funds from marijuana sales tax to fund public lands infrastructure like state trails and parks, wildlife management, habitat improvement, and maintenance of the county roads we need to travel to get to the places we love.

Maintaining our access to public lands isn’t the only thing SB 442 set out to accomplish. Allocating funds to veterans services and addressing the addiction crisis, to name a few, reflect the widespread benefits and incredible bipartisan collaboration that gave SB 442 so much support in the first place. Even though SB 442 was originally passed by a huge majority before it was vetoed by our governor, a fringe set of legislators caused the veto override to fall flat by painting SB 442 as a partisan, divisive issue.

SB 442 was a win for all Montanans and Gov. Greg Gianforte’s veto of it flew in the face of what we wanted, what the Legislature overwhelmingly passed. We shouldn’t have been forced to wait for the next session to see the ideas of SB 442 brought to fruition. And as we march steadily toward the 2025 Legislature, I do hope another version of the bill sees the light of day. I hope this time, the will of the people will be followed.

— Dawn Oehlerich, Whitefish