Laws Sparked by Grief

* Re “The Politics of Parental Grieving,” by Mark Fritz, Column One, June 3: As the parents of Robbin Brandley, murdered at Saddleback College in 1986, and victims rights activists, we have the same question as Candy Lightner: Why can’t we use research and knowledge to get these laws passed instead of grieving, crying parents? Answer: Legislators and community leaders are not doing their jobs.

It seems to us that Fritz believes “s--- happens,” so victims’ families must accept it--just leave it to those in power, who do absolutely nothing except mouth banalities. America is 6% of the world’s population and produces over 80% of the violence. As long as this is so, you will see even more crying, grieving parents advocating new laws/changed laws. Did former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown introduce three-strikes legislation? No. It took a crying, grieving parent named Mike Reynolds to get the law and the initiative passed.

It can be assumed from the article that the previous laws were OK. Wrong. Most criminal laws are written by the criminal defense industry and passed by the lawmakers they financially support. Now that’s enough to make you cry.

GENELLE and JACK REILLEY

Board Members, Security on

Campus, Laguna Beach

* Fritz’s article is brave journalism. One of the few idyllic beliefs of the 1960s that has survived and flourished is the notion that passing more laws (and to a lesser extent, spending more government money) will eventually address intractable problems. We have indeed become a culture that manufactures almost every freakish, isolated event into a pervasive, threatening mania.

Most recently, it has taken just a handful of teenagers and young adults, such as those involved in the Littleton, Colo., tragedy, out of more than 250 million Americans, to spark an avalanche of new gun control legislation and hearings that will, in the end, result in nothing but several more “feel good” laws that would not have made a difference and will not in the future make a difference.

JAMES I. HAM

Los Angeles