SCOTUS errs on Green appeal; COVID's not over: Letters to the editor, March 12, 2023

Did SCOTUS even read Green appeal?

The Supreme Court's refusal to review Crosley Green’s conviction leaves the Brevard community in pain over such a miscarriage of justice. Crosley has served 32 years in prison for murder, and yet there is no physical evidence of his guilt. Even those who testified against him later recanted their stories, which they confessed to have been coerced by the prosecution.

That the Brady rule was disregarded by the Supreme Court makes one wonder if the justices even bothered to read the appeal, because the facts reveal disturbing prosecutorial misconduct. The court’s denial sets a precedent for allowing such wrongdoing in future cases. The fact is that in my home county of Brevard, an innocent man was originally sentenced to death, later reduced to life, for an unproven crime. The conviction still stands. Why?

More:Torres: Arguing for Crosley Green to remain free is easy | Opinion

Two men, formerly incarcerated in Brevard County for over 20 years each, were thankfully freed due to the Innocence Project exposing their innocence through DNA samples. Both men happen to be white. Crosley was convicted in spite of no incriminating DNA evidence from the start. It makes you wonder if Black lives matter. In this case, apparently not.

Bonnie Ida, Melbourne

Books, bans, bullies

Whether it's the banning of books, the revenge against Disney, the Florida Legislature doing what they’re told, the anti-diversity policies or the political events at Brevard Zoo — one thing I think we can all agree on is that we are now being governed by a group of revengeful bullies.

Donald Thomas, Melbourne Beach

Reports aside, COVID is not over

Any agency reporting that the number of COVID cases are dropping is taking a shot in the dark. There is no factual basis for their statements.

The only cases that are reported are those submitted by health care providers where patients actually visit their facility. People who test positive at home have no way of reporting their results. Because the symptoms of the latest iteration of COVID are more mild than its predecessors, fewer people are contacting their doctors.

It has been my experience that the number of cases may in fact be on the rise here in Brevard as I have become aware of many people who have self-tested positive but simply stayed home and let the symptoms run their course.

COVID is not over. If you haven’t gotten COVID, you probably will. If you’ve been infected, you probably will get sick again. It would be wise to vaccinate once a year so as to minimize the symptoms.

Les Forster, Melbourne

More:The 'constitutional carry' lie and why gun advocates don't love the latest Florida bill

'When will this overreach stop?'

Brevard Democrats didn’t organize or as an organization participate in a protest at the Brevard Zoo, regardless of what Mr. Fine would believe. There are countless people throughout the county from all ideologies who are opposed to Fine and his autocratic tendencies.

We love our zoo. Like most Brevard County citizens we are tired of seeing politics injected into every area of life, especially our zoo.

When will this overreach stop? When will you stop limiting the ability for businesses to do as they see fit? The zoo choosing to not be viewed as political should be celebrated, not punished. By your actions you make clear you are more interested in exerting limitless power than serving our community. Is this how you would operate our elections office if you should win election to that role, too?

All that said — if you will force our zoo to bow to your will, expect to see more public democratic presence at the most environmentally conscious, solution-seeking entity in our county: Brevard Zoo.

Also consider it notice to all nonprofits who receive county grant funds that they will be forced to rent their spaces to parties of all ideologies. Brevard Democrats will be coming to a space near you ... because we can.

Pamela Castellana, Melbourne, is chair of Brevard Democrats.

If this is 'new normal' ... beware

My favorite country to visit is Hungary; it's beautiful and safe, people are friendly, and prices are low. But starting with Viktor Orban winning the presidency in 2010, things began to deteriorate. Orban consolidated his power over the press, allowing him to win every election since. And even though Hungary suffered under USSR occupation from 1945-1991, Orban now aligns himself with Russia.

Recently a distinguished private Budapest university, the University of Europe, irked him with its frequent student demonstrations, so he  terminated their license, forcing them to move to Vienna.

More:'Resistance is redemptive': Black history classes thrive in Brevard but leaders anxious

I was reminded of this when Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed six new trustees to the University of Florida board of trustees.

They fired the highly rated school’s president, Dr. Kent Fuchs, who was popular with both students and faculty.  To replace Fuchs, the trustees named Ben Sasse, former Republican governor of Nebraska.

In January DeSantis appointed six new trustees at New College. They announced the Black Studies program would end, fired the president and installed DeSantis ally Richard Corcoran, former Florida House speaker.

When a party in power changes, I expect to see officials replaced, voting districts gerrymandered and those "well-connected" to the party now in power to benefit with favorable legislation. What I don't expect is to see the educational system modified to assure it produces graduates with the "right" political views.

According to DeSantis, "the Florida of today is the America of tomorrow."

Is this the new normal, politicization of our public institutions of learning?

Isn't that what you call "grooming"?

Robert Palmquist, Melbourne

Registration bill: What's next?

A new bill was just introduced in the Florida Legislature to require bloggers who write about the governor, his cabinet and the state legislators to register with the state and report their activities.

So, I wonder, should I — writing to the editor and not necessarily praising our officials — also be required to register? Further, are the free-thinkers, liberals, lighthearted, intellectuals and ordinary citizens who express online their unhappiness with the governor or our state lawmakers, should also register their thoughts?

Ultimately, all the voters who do not support the governor in his bid for presidency and lawmakers for their infinite reelection should be registered and their loyalty examined by the state to determine whether they should be allowed to vote again.

Our ex-president and, possibly, our next president suggested “terminating” our Constitution. The distinguished members of the Florida Senate will go down in history as the first in the nation who started the process of nullifying the First Amendment.

This is real: The proposed bill would create in Florida Statutes new Section 286.31: Blogger Registration and Reporting.

Warren Charminski, Indian Harbour Beach

More:2023 Legislative session: Goals of the Brevard delegation

'Path of the Panther' is eye-opener

I just saw the National Geographic movie “Path of the Panther," the nature film about the need to save the endangered Florida panther from extinction due to lessening of wild territory in our state and to the rapid encroachment of civilization — roads and housing developments.

One man from an old family of Florida ranchers says, "Just six months ago people were selling this land for $2,000 an acre. Now it’s $20,000 an acre. How can you possibly recap your money?”

The developer answers, “You’re looking at it the wrong way. You need to ask the question, ‘How many houses can I fit onto an acre of land?’ “

From the air we see the chilling view of cookie-cutter houses jammed onto a newly treeless acre.

Every school child needs to see this film. It has a quiet gentle message; it is awe-inspiring to watch people who are so dedicated to  nature and Florida. Just the closeups of Florida panthers, black bears, wild boars and alligators are inspiring.

These children who see the film will be the adults voting to save our state in the next few decades. They'll come away appreciating our state of Florida in a whole new way and feel a renewed connection with our land . Please see the film before it leaves our area.

Barb Bayley, Melbourne

GOP shows hypocrisy on student debt

Hypocritical Republicans are carping that student loans should not be reduced because every American who avoided student loans is penalized for not going into debt.

Life isn't fair, and even less fair for college-educated people of color earning less than $40,000 yearly, burdened with student loans while they were some of the most financially impacted during the COVID pandemic.

Trump's tax reform transferred the most wealth from the bottom to the top in American history; plus, he added $8 trillion dollars to the national debt. That's 25% of the historical American accrued debt for all time.

When the United States has a national catastrophe, people of color suffer the lion's share of the malady, as when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Less than 30% of the local poor and Black population were able to return to NOLA to reestablish their homesteads. They witnessed gentrification of their old neighborhoods, with white people who qualified for FEMA money while Black residents were systematically prevented from qualifying for reconstruction funds. If we are to use fairness as the overriding index to provide full equity and inclusion for citizens at the bottom of our society who are disproportionately impacted, what then?

U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan, Florida, had $2.3 million in federal PPP loans forgiven, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, $184,504. The likelihood of either of these Republicans filing bankruptcy, ruining their credit, or not receiving proper health care is not in their vision as it is for the America most of us inhabit.

Bobby Cameron, Indialantic

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: We're being governed by bullies: Letters to the Editor, March 12, 2023