Gov. Chris Christie has demonstrated that he does not have much knowledge about the operation of the Supreme Court.
In an effort to boost his chances of securing Republican presidential primary votes and in condemnation of the Supreme Court for not being conservative enough, he said referring to the court's recent rulings on gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act, apparently with a straight face, "If the Christie-type justices had been on that court in the majority, we would have won those cases in the Supreme Court rather than lost them."
If Gov. Christie believes that appointing a justice who is insulated for life from political pressure will necessarily yield ideological purity and loyalty to the individual who places him on the court, he is tragically mistaken.
The brash Gov. Christie is known as a man who tells it like it is and lets the chips fall where they may. Vis-a-vis the Supreme Court, he has told it like it isn't.
Oren M. Spiegler, Upper Saint Clair, Pennsylvania
Cameras that hold traffic violators accountable save lives
Stopping at a stop sign should not be a controversy, especially when we're asked to stop to allow for kids to safely board or leave the bus. Those who pass a school bus illegally should be held accountable to keep kids safe and photo enforcement helps police do that. If you read Paul Mulshine's June 25 column and talk to Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon (R-Monmouth), however, protecting kids is just not worth the extra tap of the brakes.
Mulshine's citation of, and Assemblyman O'Scanlon's partnership with the National Motorists Association is disturbing. This is an organization that advocates for the elimination of zero tolerance laws which penalize minors caught drinking and driving, mandatory seat belt laws and speed bumps.
Assemblyman O'Scanlon opines that "Even if these cameras worked as advertised, it would take 20 years to save a single life." Holding violators accountable saves lives immediately, not twenty years later, Assemblyman. Even if it took twenty years, as the family members of those killed on our nation's roads, we would hope that policy makers would like to save them by enforcing the law rather than encouraging others to skirt it.
Frank Hinds founded the Red Means Stop Traffic Safety Alliance after his daughter was killed in an auto accident involving a red light runner. Red Means Stop does not receive funding from Redflex, though an employee from the traffic safety system manufacturer sits on the alliance's board, along with other like-minded organizations such as AAA Arizona, State Farm Insurance and The Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety.
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