Blame ACLU, not Reagan
By The Bakersfield Californian
The Dec. 9 letter "Good programs at risk" needs to be addressed. This misguided writer blames Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush for abandoning the mentally ill and down-and-out people in society. When I was a street policeman, the American Civil Liberties Union sued to prevent law enforcement from assisting the mentally ill and homeless people who needed to be in a hospital. We were barred from helping them.
I'm very tired of a certain segment of society continuing to blame past presidents for everything that's wrong. Maybe if President Obama would go to Camp David for vacations like past presidents, instead of spending a king's ransom for expensive trips, he could help the poor.
As to tax breaks for the top 3 percent of income earners, who do you think provides employment? The poor? I don't think so, and neither does any sensible person believe that people without means can hire anybody.
Tom Edmonds
Bakersfield
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Two cellphones confiscated last week from witnesses to the in-custody death of David Sal Silva were returned Wednesday to the attorney representing the witnesses.
About two dozen protesters stood in front of Kern County Superior Court next to the Liberty Bell Thursday morning to make a statement about police brutality.
The death of a man in custody following a prolonged struggle with Kern County Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers and the subsequent fracas over confiscated witness cellphones have gained international attention and raised concerns here that the incidents could tarnish the county's emerging...
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Two cellphones confiscated last week from witnesses to the in-custody death of David Sal Silva were returned Wednesday to the attorney representing the witnesses.