Views in brief

The struggle continues at Boeing

IN RESPONSE to "Beaten by blackmail and betrayal at Boeing": I want to thank everyone for your continuing support.

There are many at Boeing currently that are NOT giving up at this time! We have huge odds against us, but we are NOT accepting the wrong that has been done. We all need to stick together on this one. Thank you.
Kevin, Mukilteo, Wash.

Why isn't the blame on the cops?

IN RESPONSE to "Accused of assault, and he never touched a gun": I am a criminal defense attorney with extensive experience both in private practice and as a public defender. The Manhattan DA's office has clearly and indisputably misapplied the law relating to reckless conduct.

The essential focus under these circumstances is reasonable foreseeability. Was it reasonably foreseeable that Mr. Broadnax's antics, including playing in traffic, would likely cause serious injury to pedestrians? A case could be made for "yes" if cars crashed into each other or into pedestrians as a direct result of Mr. Broadnax's actions interfering with moving traffic.

From any objective viewpoint, however (which is the legal standard), one could hardly reason that there was a likelihood that his behavior made it foreseeable that police would draw their guns and shoot at him. The fact that the police believed he was about to apparently extract a weapon from his pocket is not part of this causal link. It stands on its own.

It certainly appears that on this point the two officers are in dire straits to justify their use of deadly physical force. So why then does a highly experienced DA's office charge the defendant with these crimes?

I offer the following cynical take on their motivation in doing so: It appears highly likely that Mr. Broadnax is not presently, and will likely not be in the far distant future, competent under the law to be prosecuted. New York State Criminal Procedure Law provides for a criminal matter consisting of only misdemeanors to be dismissed upon the report of at least two doctors that a defendant is incompetent and is unable to assist his counsel or adequately understand the charges filed against him.

If charged with a felony, however, the charges are not subject to being dismissed, and prosecution can be suspended until whenever the defendant upon re-examination is determined to be competent. Therefore, it is conceivable that the DA's office will never have to prosecute this case, and therefore their conduct in bringing these charges will never be scrutinized by a court--but, rather, will be left to the DA arguing that they are on the right side of a legal interpretation.

Of course, defense counsel for Mr. Broadnax could still move to dismiss the felony assault charges as defective, and if successfully done so the DA's office would in the end be left with the politically posturing take for the media that "after all, a judge did this...not them."
Dennis McCormick, Goshen, N.Y.

We need more left-wing voices

IN RESPONSE to "A voice for the struggle": The role of media in the struggle cannot be over-emphasized. Mention should be made of Appeal to Reason and The Guardian (still sadly missed).

I live in an area where Faux News seems to be the primary source of information, and that can be a bit disheartening at times. I'm pretty new to the Internet and am amazed at the wealth, as well as the variety, of radical socialist websites.

Now if I can only get my friends and co-workers to take a look...
Grant Fisher, Atlantic Beach, N.C.

Why we can't trust de Blasio

IN RESPONSE to "It's put-up-or-shut-up time for Bill de Blasio": Now de Blasio has chosen Bill Bratton as the next police commissioner. Bratton is more a continuation of Ray Kelly than a turn away from the racism that has ruled New York and, especially, the NYPD throughout Bloomberg's term.

Bratton is an advocate of the thoroughly debunked "broken windows" theory of policing that focuses on petty crime and graffiti, rather than the big crimes of the financial industry and developers that have destroyed the working and middle classes' pensions and job opportunities. A very bad sign, indeed.
Bill Michtom, from the Internet

Living in fear of getting sick

IN RESPONSE to "Getting sick can be hazardous to your job": Many workers, even in higher-paying jobs, don't realize they don't have sick days or sick leave until they actually get sick.

I found this out a number of years ago when I worked for a large East Coast insurance company. I required surgery and at least a week's recovery, but I had to rush back to work after three days for fear of losing my job, and I had to cut into my vacation days to assure that I would still get paid.

That's why, in these United States, even a decent job with group health insurance guarantees nothing. If you get very sick and can't go to work, you end up losing your job and your health benefits--which means you and your family are completely exposed to health, as well as financial, risk.

American employers and the government agencies that they own are scamming workers!
MBH, Chicago