Letters: The Legislature’s rap sheet

Re “Running on different kind of record,” May 5

Drunk driving, shoplifting, carrying a loaded firearm onto a commercial airliner, lying about place of residence and then voting fraudulently. Sound like a laundry list of charges against members of the Mafia? Think again.

This is a list of alleged improprieties involving five California state legislators and one former state senator. And these bottom-feeders have the audacity to present themselves to the voters of California as candidates worthy of reelection.

I’d like to see them face a civics class at a high school and try to justify their arrest records. Even young people know the meaning of ethics and morality.

Bonnie Ryan

Santa Maria

The use of the word “record” together with the question “Do voters care?” is deeply troubling. You’ve equated arrest with conviction.

In particular, your article repeats the allegation that state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) and former Democratic state Sen. Richard Alarcon committed voter fraud by using a residence where they did not reside.

That allegation is identical to the one made by Republican candidate Fred Karger when he filed a complaint with Massachusetts officials alleging that Mitt Romney committed voter fraud in 2010 when he used his son’s residence to vote in a 2010 state election after he and his wife moved out of state.

The fact that Romney was not arrested does not mean that he is innocent. The fact that Alarcon and Wright were arrested does not mean they are guilty. These are allegations, nothing more.

Ernest A. Canning

Thousand Oaks

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