Selective enforcement is too common

Kudos to the Daily Herald Editorial Board for their Jan. 19 opinion that selective adherence to laws pose a threat to our system. I am tired of hearing people say that they will not comply with a law or a regulation because they don't agree with it. They don't get to choose.

This includes states and municipalities that claim sanctuary status and county sheriffs that refuse to enforce the new Illinois law requiring assault weapon owners to register those guns. County sheriffs claim that the law is unconstitutional but it not within their purview to make that judgment. That is left to the courts to decide and until then, they should be required to uphold the law.

Unfortunately, this selective enforcement of laws is practiced all the way to the top law enforcement official in our government, Merrick Garland.

He has decided not to enforce the existing law that prohibits protesting in front of Supreme Court justices' homes, the result of which could have led to the murder of Justice Kavanaugh. This sorry state reminds me of the movie The Fugitive. Tommy Lee Jones plays a Deputy U.S. Marshall, who, when confronted by Harrison Ford claiming his innocence, says ..."I don't care." The meaning is that Jones has no say in guilt or innocence. His job is to carry out the law.

Keith Roberts

Bartlett

Take opportunity to see lives of disabled

I would like to challenge ALL of the high school principals, students and student councils in especially York High School in Elmhurst District 205, Palatine Schaumburg High School District 211, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and every other high school in the area to do the following during the month of April, instead of donating even $1 to any autism organization, lighting even one single building up blue or talking about acceptance of anyone with a developmental disability:

During April or even before, take your high school teachers, counselors, all students and student counsel members to your nearest Adult Day Program or group home and observe what it's like to be a direct support professional, working with adults with all developmental disabilities for a few hours.

I guarantee it will be more educational and eye opening to what awareness of what people with developmental disabilities are really like and are capable of doing in our communities.

You first might learn valuable lessons about yourself, bullying others and if you would actually like to work with people developmental disabilities during high school and for a future career.

Who in high school is up for the challenge?

Mike Baker

Schaumburg

Sheriff should enforce the law or resign

Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain recently stated that his office is refusing to discharge its duty to enforce HB5471, Illinois' new assault weapons ban.

We do not elect sheriffs to legislate. We elect a General Assembly and a governor to do that. The people's elected representatives in the General Assembly have enacted a law to ban the sale, purchase and manufacture of weapons designed to shoot and kill as many targets in as short an amount of time as possible. Sheriff Hain is tasked with enforcing that law. If Hain is unwilling to enforce the law, he should not be a law enforcement officer.

Hain is right about our society's struggle with mental health. But this is no adequate reason against taking common-sense measures to prevent gun violence. And his personal opposition to the law certainly is no adequate reason to not perform his duty.

Last month, when he was sworn into his second term, Hain took an oath to "faithfully discharge" his duties as Kane County Sheriff - which include enforcing law. If he is unwilling to discharge the duties of his office, he should step aside for someone who is.

Martin Beirne

Batavia

Local sports teams offer great inspiration

On Saturday, Jan. 21, I had the privilege of writing a story for the Daily Herald on the Brother Rice-Rolling Meadows boys basketball game held at Benet Academy in Lisle.

The game was one of four sponsored by Joe Henricksen's City/Suburban High School Sports Report. This was their 10th year of the event.

An estimated crowd of more than 3,000 came to watch eight of the best high school teams in the state of Illinois compete.

It was a day where you could forget the problems of the world, and enjoy the efforts of the players and coaches.

This was a day that reminded me why I, other Daily Herald correspondents and fans come to games to watch all of our local and all teams play. We love the roar of the crowds and the competitiveness that these players bring to the table, win or lose.

So, get out to a game. Cheer your team on. Enjoy the popcorn, pizza and other treats from the concession stand. You'll feel good about yourself and the players will appreciate you also.

Greg Swiderski

Rolling Meadows

Educational choice should be available to all

The League of Women Voters is a political arm for the Democratic Party masquerading as a nonpartisan community organization.

Their latest outward bias that they don't even attempt to hide anymore is their opposition to the Invest in Kids Act, a school choice program in Illinois that benefits low income families in failing school districts.

The Naperville Chapter President, Susan Craighead, recently took to the pages of this paper to express her displeasure with the Invest in Kids Act that has empowered over 9,000 students and families to chart a more successful educational path in hopes of a brighter future.

Craighead stands on the side of teachers unions and against the families who lack the means to transfer their children from local schools that are either unsafe or unsatisfactory in providing for the specific needs of individual students.

It comes from a place of privilege to inform these gracious families that the jig is up and their children must be ripped from their current school where they have developed familiarity and relationships because suburban women like Craighead say their time is up.

Don't be like that. Be an advocate for families who want a better future for their children across Illinois. Contact your legislators and urge them to expand and make the Invest in Kids Act permanent so families - no matter their income, ZIP code or disability - have the opportunity to provide their children with the best educational opportunity possible.

Janice Anderson

Naperville

Key reason omitted for walking to school: safety

In response to an article in the Jan. 23 Daily Herald by Marni Pyke about why children do not walk or bike to school, she conveniently omits the biggest reason: safety.

Parents do not feel their children are safe walking or biking to school, and have not for a long time.

My wife and I moved to Wheaton in 1987, when Wheaton was primarily a religious and conservative community. Our kids could bike to Whitier and to Edison schools and we did not worry about that kind of crime. We moved here from Beverly/Morgan Park on Chicago's south side to get away from crime (as well as rotten schools).

Since then, however, Wheaton has become secular and liberal. The rights of the accused have become more important. One reads everyday now (including in your newspaper) about violent crime, and little is being done.

In fact, just this year Illinois has passed the SAFE-T Act that eliminates bail for dangerous criminals.

Further, articles like the one by Ms. Pyke reinforce the perception that the media cannot be trusted to report what is really doing on.

Lee T. Jennings

Wheaton

Sheriffs should urge people to follow laws

The letters to the editor in opposition to the new gun law are ludicrous and sometimes comical. The favorite argument against registering assault weapons is that it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Several county sheriffs, including DuPage's Mendrick, have said this. First, the Second Amendment uses the words "well-regulated" before the words "right to bear arms" in the Constitution. A law requiring registration of particular weapons sure sounds like a regulation. Second, the courts, not the sheriffs, will determine constitutionality of the law. Until the courts determine otherwise, consider the law constitutional.

Nobody is taking away anybody's guns. The law says register your assault weapons if you own them. If you don't register them, then you are no longer a "law-abiding" citizen. The rogue sheriffs know that. They say they don't want to go after "lawful" gun owners. With the new law, "lawful" gun owners register their guns.

As the sheriff in Lake County said, he isn't going to go door to door checking if a gun is registered. That would be unnecessarily costly. If, during the course of doing their duty, the police come across an unregistered assault weapon, then that gun owner would be in violation of the new law and should be arrested.

What all sheriffs in Illinois should be doing is encouraging their citizens to follow the law and register their assault weapons to remain "law abiding" citizens. They could do it over phone or online with minimal cost or inconvenience. How hard is that?

Diane Niesman

Wheaton

You can't have it both ways on obeying laws

Gov. Pritzker and others are critical of the many county sheriffs in Illinois who have said that they will not support the state's recently passed gun law. This is not new in Illinois. This has been happening for years.

In Cook County, laws against shoplifting and looting are not supported.

Laws against illegal immigrants are not supported. In fact, Illinois is a sanctuary state. So why should people become upset now, since this seems to be the way Illinois does

business.

You can't have it both ways.

John Schofield

Schaumburg

Taxpayers should not fund Bears move

Regarding the proposed move of the Chicago Bears to Arlington Heights: Just say no to the desired tax payer funding.

Rob Burns

Roselle