There have been several bills presented that wanted to look more closely
at the court system and the retention of judges. Some of the legislation
seems justified, but in my opinion some of it was unnecessary and vindictive.
Each branch of government must be free to do the job that is assigned
to them The judiciary is to interpret the laws that are enacted by the
legislative body and signed by the governor. The law must be clear so
the intent of the law can be found constitutional.
Drug use is probably the impetus for much of the crime that takes place.
Methamphetamine labs are in all our communities. Meth is not only harmful
to the user, but the labs are contaminating homes and leaving them uninhabitable.
Always a concern in our society is violence. Adult crime have tapered
off, but the really terrifying statistics show that violent crime among
juveniles has continued to escalate. Even though there have been some
positive strides made in the last few years, there is still much to
be done.
There are no easy answers; but if we cannot feel safe in our homes,
on our streets, in the schools, or in our places of business, then our
quality of life is greatly diminished.
We know that 90 to 95 percent of the juvenile offenders who enter
our Third District Juvenile Court System never return. The remaining
5 to 10 percent commit the majority of violent crimes.
To curb this trend in hard-core juvenile crime, our immediate goals
should include:
