JUDICIARY
Drug courts effective for nonviolent offenders
Georgia’s governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House and chief justice have thrown their support behind drug courts as effective alternatives to prison for certain nonviolent offenders. Drug courts cost far less money than prison, and help keep the public safer by reducing crime rates.
Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens says that 40 percent of prisoners are nonviolent offenders. Many are addicts, or are mentally ill. Additionally, 70 percent of convicted Georgia felons need some kind of substance abuse program.
Nationally, drug courts are the premier method for addressing nonviolent, addiction-driven crime, and Georgia is considered a model. Do these courts work for everyone? No. Do some graduates relapse or reoffend? Yes. But for the majority of participants, drug courts have helped steer them away from crime and into a more stable, productive life.
All of us in the judicial branch are grateful for the support from our state leaders, as reflected in the 2012 budget.
Marla S. Moore, director, Administrative Office of the Courts
POLITICS
Middle class will vanish under spending cuts
Once again, President Barack Obama has exposed Republican flimflam. They moan about deficit reduction, but their so-called “historic” spending cuts legislation will do little to bring down the debt. When will they tell the truth?
What they really want to do is avoid paying taxes; starve the government; invade women’s privacy; and create a society where corporations run roughshod over workers, the planet withers and the American middle class is history.
Sybil Thomas, Whitesburg
PENSIONS
Anger naturally directed at state governments
Thomas Sowell’s column (“Secrets of the welfare state are revealed,” Opinion, April 12) contains a bogus analogy that state pension shortfalls are like a bad check — you don’t blame the bank. When a state government promises a pension to employees and mismanages funding of the pension, it is reasonable for the employees to be angry with the state government. The governor and legislature are the face of state government, so naturally, the anger is turned toward them.
Richard V. Fuller, Marietta
LIBRARIES
Public institutions serve their communities well
It is awfully easy to take our libraries for granted. The library belongs to everyone. In the academic institution, the library supports the educational goals of students, as well as the teaching and research goals of the faculty. The public library’s mission is even broader. All types of libraries operate in the most businesslike and customer-friendly way possible, while giving dedicated service to the community they serve.
In addition, libraries relate to each other in a spirit of cooperation and resource sharing that is unparalleled in any industry. Congratulations to the people of Cobb County, who successfully protested the closure of 13 of 17 branches of their public library system.
Dorothy Ingram, Atlanta
