Toll lanes on L.A. freeways; views of the Supreme Court; who is the UC system for?

Not-so-freeways

Re “Traffic relief for $1.40 a mile,” July 7

Have we so completely lost track of the ideal of the equality of our citizenry that we are trying to force lower-income drivers off the freeways? Would these transportation “experts” be willing to charge a fee to let the wealthy step to the front of the line at the DMV or at the courthouse?

Though equality in the private sector is an illusion, in the public sector, on the street and in government dealings, we should all be seen as equals. That has been held up as an ideal so grand that we would go and kill people in far-off lands who don’t agree with us on this.

If roads are too congested, let’s come up with a solution that benefits the public as a whole, not just the moneyed class.

Paul Moser

Studio City

Toll lanes will impede traffic flow and commerce. What we need are free, dedicated lanes for only trucks and buses. These should be free to prevent the costs being passed on to consumers.

Leave it to L.A. to not build a fast train with a connecting bus system to move people from Point A to Point B efficiently and relieve our freeways. Now the poor working stiffs driving on the 10 and 110 freeways who can’t afford the luxury lane will have to leave work earlier and come home later.

Carla Bollinger

West Hills

Criticizing the Supreme Court

Re “Closing the door to justice,” Opinion, July 6

Erwin Chemerinsky says the current court “is closing the courthouse doors to those who have claims that should be heard.”

Perhaps Chemerinsky is trying to explain an ideal legal system, which allows me to agree with many of his points. But for a man of his stature, his complaint seems to lack two qualities: a concept of scarcity, and humility.

Each complaint he puts forward is made in a compelling way, but he takes no account of what the trade-offs are for allowing the marginal case to go to court. Perhaps a newspaper column is not the place for humility, but he can at least acknowledge that there is room for differing opinions on the Supreme Court.

Michael Crouch

Malibu

Chemerinsky has written an excellent piece. Our Supreme Court has lost Americans’ confidence in its integrity. Nothing in the decisions Chemerinsky cites offers citizens a hope of justice.

If our congressional representatives do not have the nerve to take steps to correct these activist decisions, none of us can expect fairness in the courts, especially in the court of last resort.

Robbie Roy

Portland

With all due respect to Chemerinsky, his assertion that “the Supreme Court has lost faith in the American court system” is facile.

He asserts: “The court decided that employees who claim to be victims of sex discrimination cannot sue in class actions when the employer has a policy that prohibits discrimination.”

What the court actually held in the Wal-Mart case was that a nationwide class action alleging that the retailer’s pay and promotion policy discriminated against women cannot stand when the company did not centrally dictate the pay scale or promotion criteria, but rather vested those decisions in individual managers. A class action like this needs to be based on an actual company policy, not the complete absence of one.

Michael Leb

Pasadena

The writer is a former senior vice president of human resources for Wal-Mart.

Without a gun, a lesser crime

Re “Slaying trial first focuses on the victim,” July 6

The person who should also be on trial is the person who owned the gun that Brandon McInerney took to school that day. If McInerney had not had access to a firearm, this might have been settled more simply with an argument, perhaps a fistfight, but not with a bullet that ended Larry King’s life.

Most 14-year-olds don’t consider the long-term effects of their actions. They’re not capable of it. That is why 14-year-olds have parents. And a 14-year-old should not be on trial as an adult, no matter what he did.

Yes, what McInerney did was unjustifiable, but whoever bought that gun and left it where McInerney could get hold of it should bear responsibility for King’s death.

Tessa Lucero

Canyon Country

McInerney’s attorneys say King flirted with their client aggressively before the killing. Will this mean that girls who are sexually harassed (suggestive and lewd remarks, groping and such) will be allowed to kill the bad boys? Wow.

Will this mean also that a victim who stands up to his bully might be killed, and the killer cast as victim? Again, wow.

Karen Greenbaum-Maya

Claremont

UC should be for Californians

Re “Whose UC is it?,” Editorial, July 7

Your main point about California students versus out-of-staters is an interesting one. But you also mention that University of California tuition may soon reach $12,000 a year. Who can afford this?

When I was a UCLA undergraduate from 1960 to 1964, I was impressed and grateful when my father paid my full student fee for me each semester: $74 plus books. A world-class education, almost for free. How sad that we no longer want this for our children.

Ann Bourman

Los Angeles

As a California resident, I feel that too many of our tax dollars are being used to admit students from out of state. We shouldn’t forget that the UC system was built and sustained mostly by California taxpayers.

My daughter, who had a very high ACT score and a 4.0 grade point average, was not accepted to any of the most prestigious UC campuses. But she got accepted to New York University with a full scholarship. It’s going to cost me less to send her to New York. This doesn’t make sense.

Bright students are leaving and may not return. Increasing out-of-state enrollment is counterproductive to California’s future. As a taxpayer for 29 years, I feel cheated.

Dinesh Ghiya

Whittier

Scare tactic

Re “Airports warned about implanted explosives,” July 7

My immediate reaction to the stories about “surgically implanted explosives” was to recall the first time I received a warning about business travelers being drugged and waking up in a bathtub of ice with one of their kidneys stolen: It really scared me. The organ story was really just an urban legend. Could organs even be stolen?

Surgically implanted explosives is another great scare story. While theoretically possible, the story is much more useful to scare the public and justify budgets and erosion of liberties. Be afraid my friends, be very afraid.

James Millar

Redondo Beach

DWP twist

Re “On the hot seat at the DWP,” Opinion, July 4

Unanswered in Jim Newton’s column is why the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power wants a rate hike while it is sending millions of dollars to the city’s general fund. Why isn’t existing ratepayer money staying with the DWP to cover its own costs?

To argue that the DWP needs rate hikes while this is going on seems preposterous to me.

Larry Keffer

Granada Hills