LETTERS: Bogden ignores law, makes his own

Baseless petitions

Your Aug. 15 editorial was right on the mark ("If Bogden won't drop baseless appeal, fire him").

Senior U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks' decision was a repudiation of the illegal confiscation of $167,000 from a motorist after Elko County sheriff's deputies conducted a questionable stop of a motor home traveling through their jurisdiction and U.S. attorneys failed to disclose the circumstances of the stop to the judge. Elko County confiscated the motor home and the money under the unproved premise that they were involved criminal activity. Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden claimed the seizure was legal, so he's appealing Judge Hicks' decision.

Police departments across the United States are using civil forfeiture laws, intended to deter criminal activity, to steal from law-abiding citizens. This law needs to be repealed immediately, because those we have placed in power cannot be trusted. This overreach by Mr. Bogden serves to justify his firing in 2007 by then-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Mr. Bogden is a disgrace to American jurisprudence. He flaunts judicial decisions and creates his own law. He should be terminated once and for all. Perhaps that will happen if ever an independent U.S. attorney general can be confirmed to serve the American people, rather than someone with their own selfish political agenda.

Bruce Blough

North Las Vegas

Gun manufacturers' responsibility

I read two anti-gun letters to the editor in the Aug. 9 Review-Journal. Both authors made statements that need to be addressed.

Rick Reynolds wrote, "It is stupid to have a federal law that prohibits lawsuits against gun dealers and manufacturers (the only such arrangement for an industry)." I suppose Mr. Reynolds is in favor of a law that would hold Ford responsible if someone intentionally ran over another person with one of its cars? Or is Louisville Slugger to be held responsible if someone killed a person with one of the company's bats?

Gopal Rao wrote, "When will the coal carriers for the NRA realize that more guns means more deaths?" When the facts bear out that assumption. So far, they don't. There are millions more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens today than in the 1990s (some call President Barack Obama the best gun salesman in history) and gun crime has fallen.

Robert Gardner

Henderson

EPA screw-up

So the EPA, which released millions of gallons of toxic sludge into the Animas River in Colorado, did a number on something they should have left their fingers off of.

Let's put this into proper perspective: If somebody other than a government agency had breached the wall of an abandoned mine and caused the toxic spill, the EPA would sink its claws into the person or company and assess a huge fine. But because the EPA cannot and will not fine itself, who pays for the screw up?

Maybe every state that has the yellow toxic flow going through its borders will jump on the bandwagon and sue the EPA for millions of dollars. Maybe a lawsuit against the EPA would prevent something like this from happening again. Better yet, how about the crew that screwed up gets fired. It would set an example for other government agencies and remind them that the public is watching -- and that government agencies must be held to a higher standard.

Eugene Grabau

Las Vegas

Planning roadwork

I am totally disgusted with the planning of the construction of our streets and highways. Why are they allowed to tear up almost every major street going across the city and then do the same to most of the major cross streets? All at the same time!

I just spent two hours coming down Warm Springs Road from Las Vegas Boulevard. Sunset Road is a mess. Go across town and Decatur and Oakey boulevards are a mess, not to mention many other major streets.

As a taxpayer I am sick of this. This horrible planning is costing us in gas (and we do not have cheap gas in this city) and time. I see large equipment sitting and not being used for days, sometimes weeks at a time. I cannot believe better planning could not have been used for these projects. There is no city planning — it's absurd. Whoever allowed this to happen all over the valley should be fired.

Nancy McRight

Henderson