Letters: KC readers discuss unjust court packing, Pete Coones and Josh Hawley’s image

Packing is wrong

Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell held a Supreme Court vacancy in abeyance until President Barack Obama left office so President Donald Trump could begin packing the court with conservative-leaning jurists.

Democrats are now proposing to expand the size of the court, presumably to pack it with liberal-leaning jurists.

Politicians packing the Supreme Court with like-minded jurists is not acceptable. It destroys the image of the court as a nonpartisan, independent body that interprets constitutional law without bias. Congress should move to amend the Constitution to establish the Supreme Court at nine jurists with term limits not to exceed 10 years. (The Constitution is mute on these issues.)

Such an amendment would assure turnover and eliminate any presumed long-term gains from the process.

- Kenneth A. Lee, Raytown

Broken system

One of the statements that stood out to me while watching the recent “Dateline” episode about the wrongful murder conviction and 12-year incarceration of Kansas City, Kansas, mail carrier Pete Coones was when one of his attorneys said that the injustices committed against Coones almost caused him to quit practicing law.

I actually made that leap. Living in a state that, until recently, had no law to compensate the wrongfully convicted, I came to realize I could no longer profit from a system so corrupt and immoral that it could steal years, even decades, of an innocent person’s life and not have to pay a penny in compensation.

What was particularly disturbing was how many of those who actively participated in facilitating wrongful convictions not only went unpunished but were often even rewarded. While the criminal “justice” system claims it wants to penalize wrongdoing, it routinely fails to do so if that wrongdoing serves the system.

Thus, it was no surprise to see that Ed Brancart, the prosecutor responsible for the wrongful conviction of Coones, was given a job in the Kansas Attorney General’s office.

So, the next time someone tells you to believe in the “system,” just remind him or her about the type of people who control it.

- David R. Hoffman, South Bend, Indiana

Show me right

Sen. Josh Hawley continues to be the perennial boil on the Senate’s backside. This time he was the only no vote on the anti-Asian bias crime bill, in essence saying it is OK to hate a given race. (April 22, KansasCity.com, “Of course Josh Hawley was the only no on anti-Asian hate crime bill. That’s his brand”)

When will the people of Missouri realize that he is an embarrassment to the state’s residents, making them look like foolish hatemongers? Only Missourians can correct this image by voting him out of office come the next election.

I beg the voters: Don’t let this image of hate linger. Otherwise, the state will be branded and forever thought of as racist. The people of Missouri are better than this.

- Bob Miller, Overland Park

So divisive

How many times does the Associated Press have to remind us that George Floyd was a Black man? The front-page articles in The Star on Tuesday and Wednesday, both by the same three AP writers, blatantly stated this well-known fact in the first sentence when covering the trial and verdict of Derek Chauvin. It was news last May, but by now most people in the civilized world know that Floyd was Black and Chauvin is white.

Many news stories these days make a point to identify the race of the subjects. We teach our children that a person’s skin color does not matter, yet the media’s message is that it does.

The media should be helping to promote unity, not further racial divisiveness.

- David Lane, Belton

Real climate action

This Earth Day, I was so excited to be able to talk to my friends about the Civilian Climate Corps finally about to become a reality, thanks to President Joe Biden’s executive action earlier this year. Here’s the thing, though: We need a more ambitious corps than the one Biden has proposed.

As a young person, a fully realized Civilian Climate Corps would make a huge difference in my life. A lot of us are stoked about traditional “climate careers,” but the group should also include jobs that strengthen communities, from caring for the elderly to creating graphics to promote climate policies in our towns and cities.

I want to be excited about a meaningful job, and fighting the climate crisis at the same time would be a win-win for our country and our world.

Millions of people are still out of work, and there’s plenty of work to do. Biden and Congress must include a bold, pro-justice Civilian Climate Corps in the next infrastructure package.

- Yara Changyit-Levin, Town and Country, Missouri

Play fair games

A letter writer on Wednesday stated that sports organizations are openly supporting a particular political party. (10A) I disagree. I think they are supporting honesty, decency and democracy. It just so happens that one of our political parties supports those things and the other one doesn’t.

- Dave Mullins, Kansas City

We saw it all

A picture is worth a thousand words. A cellphone video is worth a conviction.

- Joan Harrison, Kansas City