A tree of hope has fallen. Your editorial and Mr. Hampton’s Letter to the Editor lauding the late DA-Elect Mr. Hammer, reminded me of Carl Sandburg’s quote in his moving, multi-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln: “A tree is best measured when it is down---and so it is with people.”
I did not know Mr. Hammer. The published accounts and comments from fellow-citizens concerning his background, qualifications, and plans for restoring honor and justice to our District Attorney’s office won my trust and vote.
Much troubles our great nation concerning our once venerated justice system. There is a growing perception, mine included, that we have a dangerous, despicable and deplorable, two-tiered justice system. By any measure, our justice system has been weaponized against political opponents. The victims’ cry for justice are now drowned in the cesspool of deafening shouts of defunding our brave law enforcement officers and liberal demands for social justice---i.e. law breakers are just misunderstood and require social readjusting to guide the bad actors back to societal norms!
Some critics of our justice system are now making comparisons with socialist and communist countries. Without immediate course correction, the late Mr. Hammer’s promises and that of our Pledge of Allegiance---“with liberty and justice for all” ---will forever validate the question: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, will there be any sound?
Glenn C. Peck, Shawnee, OK
