Recent editorials published in Indiana newspapers
The (Munster) Times. August 4, 2017
Sobriety checkpoints warn us to drink responsibly
There's solid reasoning behind state and Region police announcing impaired driving checkpoints before the actual enforcement.
They're trying to send a strong message that folks can and should expect to be arrested if they drive drunk - so simply don't do it.
As we head into the summer homestretch, we implore our readers to remember the cost - sometimes in human life - linked to drunken driving and that police are ready to arrest those who don't get the message.
Region police announced this week they are teaming up with some 220 law enforcement agencies statewide to increase sobriety checkpoints from mid-August through Labor Day.
You won't necessarily know when they'll be setting up ahead of time, but expect them to be out in force in the form of sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols specifically targeting impaired driving.
Think about what that means to your summer plans and act accordingly.
The Lake County prosecutor continues to pledge more stringent drunken driving charges than we've seen in the past, and the statistics show he's following through on the promise.
Far fewer drunken driving offenders are able to plead those cases down to lesser misdemeanor reckless driving charges.
A drunken driving conviction yields loss of the driver's license, fines and even jail or prison time for a repeat offender.
Region police and prosecutors estimate average costs for a drunken driver are about $10,000, including towing, attorney fees, lost time at work and other court costs.
We also know from a plethora of senseless incidents that innocent lives are lost by such behavior.
There are numerous ways to enjoy food and drink at local festivals, businesses or homes without violating the law. Designated drivers who haven't been drinking, drinking in moderation or other transportation options all are known solutions.
Make a plan and stick to it. No amount of irresponsible alcohol-related revelry is worth the legal expenses, embarrassment and risk to human life that drunken driving carries.
Finish the summer on a responsible note and check your keys in a safe place if drinking is on the schedule.
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The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette. August 2, 2017
Indiana attorney general ill-advised to intervene in gun-possession case
One afternoon in March 2014, someone called the Ranson, West Virginia, police to report seeing a man loading a handgun and putting it into his pocket as he got into a car parked in a convenience store lot known to have been the site of many illicit drug transactions.
Responding officers stopped a car traveling nearby that seemed to match the description provided by the caller after they noticed its occupants were not wearing seatbelts. As the driver was providing ID, the officers asked her passenger to get out of the car, frisked him and found a loaded gun. Recognizing the man as a former convict, the officers arrested Shaquille Robinson for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Robinson appealed his ensuing conviction, arguing that police violated his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. West Virginia is a "constitutional carry" state: law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry concealed weapons without a permit. For all the police knew, Robinson contended, he could have been carrying the gun legally.
But a federal appeals court found against him, ruling that "an officer who makes a lawful traffic stop and who has a reasonable suspicion that one of theautomobile's occupants is armed may frisk that individual for the officer's protection and the safety of everyone on the scene."
Now Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has agreed to join the attorneys general of Michigan, Texas, Utah and West Virginia to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Robinson's conviction, contending it infringes on Second Amendment gun rights.
As usual, we wonder why Indiana's top attorney wants to get the state involved in these far-afield battles. Hill's predecessor, Greg Zoeller, was famous for helping to organize multistate "interventions." Hill seems to share Zoeller's belief that the office exists not just to serve the state but to channel time and energy into national crusades of the attorney general's choosing.
This crusade is particularly dubious. At stake is less a gun right than the right of police officers to protect themselves during potentially hazardous moments such as traffic stops.
As the appeals panel noted in its decision, "The danger justifying a protective frisk arises from the combination of a forced police encounter and the presence of a weapon, not from any illegality of the weapon's possession."
Two tragic incidents in Indiana are the latest reminders of why police must be constantly aware of the possibility of sudden and lethal gun violence. Last Wednesday, an orthopedic doctor was shot to death as he walked between buildings at a clinic in Mishawaka, by a man reportedly angry because the doctor wouldn't prescribe opioids for his wife. Thursday, a Southport police officer trying to assist the occupants of a car that had crashed and overturned was shot to death by one of the passengers. These were not places one would expect violence.
Police, most of all, cannot afford to forgo vigilance about the possibility of gun violence in potentially tense encounters. If the Supreme Court were to rule police can't check for weapons people they've legitimately stopped, the world would get just a little bit more dangerous. For some reason, our state attorney general's office has chosen to take sides in this West Virginia case - and the wrong side, at that.
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South Bend Tribune. August 3, 2017
Ara's legacy born of commitment
By the time news of Ara Parseghian's death began to spread Wednesday morning, the memories of all who knew - or even met - Notre Dame's legendary coach began to take shape.
"An amazing man," recalled former Irish basketball coach Digger Phelps.
"A once-in-a-lifetime kind of coach," former Notre Dame linebacker and co-captain of the 1966 team, Jim Lynch, told ESPN.
"He recognized something in people, especially their character and heart," Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, whose quest to join the Notre Dame football team as a walk-on was told in the movie "Rudy," told USA TODAY Sports.
And a member of this Editorial Board - a youth hockey teammate of one of Parseghian's assistant coach's sons in the 1970s - recalls his larger-than-life presence when the coach shook his hand.
But what Parseghian will be remembered for most is his commitment to his family, his players, the university where his teams captured two national championships and the community that he called home nearly his entire life.
Parseghian's commitment to his family was deep and strong, even as he battled many challenges. He watched three of his grandchildren succumb to Niemann-Pick Type C, an incurable disease that affects the central nervous system. In 1994, he established the Ara Parseghian Medical Foundation to fight Niemann-Pick and was tireless in helping to raise money to fight the disease.
One of Parseghian's daughters, Karan, died in 2013 after a decades-long battle with multiple sclerosis. Through it all, Parseghian battled on.
He was committed to his players and credited with turning around a floundering Notre Dame football team that finished 2-7 before Parseghian took over the program.
In his 10 years as head coach, Notre Dame went 95-17-4 and won national championships in 1966 and 1973.
He was committed to the University of Notre Dame which, despite some hesitation, hired Parseghian even though he was not a Notre Dame graduate as the previous eight coaches were dating back to Knute Rockne.
Though he had a winter home in Florida, Parseghian remained committed to the community, making his home in Granger. He continued to follow Notre Dame football closely, even penning letters of encouragement to coach Brian Kelly after nearly every game.
Parseghian will always be one of Notre Dame's most revered coaches. The commitment with which he lived his life, both publicly and personally, will never be forgotten.
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The (Fort Wayne) News Sentinel. August 1, 2017
A lesson from the great RFRA tourism controversy
Remember the great social media outrage ginned up against Indiana in 2015 when the state passed its Religious Freedom Restoration Act? That action was supposedly going to make Indiana the discrimination capital of the Midwest, and no self-respecting LGBT supporter would set foot in the state. The tourism industry would be devastated.
And truthfully, there is evidence the city of Indianapolis did take a hit. "Since April 2015," Forbes reported in January 2016, " Indianapolis has lost more than $60 million in future convention business as a result of the RFRA controversy."
But the rest of the state? Not so much. According to figures from Gov. Eric Holcomb and the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, visitors pumped $11.5 billion into the state's economy in 2015, up more than $900 million compared to 2014. The figures show tourism supported more than 200,000 Indiana jobs and added $8.7 billion to the state's gross domestic product.
Of course, some will attribute that success to the legislature's hasty "fix" of RFRA after the social media controversy erupted. But that angered almost as many people as the original legislation (although on the other side of the issue), and it got very little publicity.
The truth is that the social justice warriors who instigated the controversy simply moved on to bigger and better issues to exploit. And Indiana tourism just kept chugging away, getting the word out of the terrific attractions this state has to offer.
The lesson from this is not to ignore delicate subjects like religious freedom or LGBT rights and other items on the social issues front. We must deal with those as we do with any others, considering all the facts on both sides and coming to a decision we think is just for all Hoosiers.
No, the lesson is to turn off social media occasionally and take a breath. Pay no attention to the fevered agitators who stir the pot for their own reasons and don't care a thing one way or the other about Hoosiers.
And this has been a wonderfully mild summer so far, just perfect for those day trips. If you haven't seen some of the attractions we try to tempt out-of-staters with, you're really missing something. If you want to start small, try the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory or the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. They're on everybody's list.___