Jim Brown

Re “Jim Brown Rejects Counseling, Gets 6-Month Term,” Jan. 6: As an African American teen who used to look up to Jim Brown, I’m disappointed in the cowardly way he’s refusing to accept responsibility for his violent temper. The issue isn’t whether he should be able to vandalize his own property, it’s whether another person was reasonably threatened by his abusive behavior. If I pulled a similar action on my little brother, even if he wasn’t injured, my mother would ground me for six months. Brown should serve his “timeout” and learn from it.

SEAN DOHENY

Whittier

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Am I the only black woman who feels sorry for Brown’s wife? Can her self-esteem be any lower? Has she no friends who care about her? Remember O.J.--and never forget.

TERRI STRUM

North Hollywood

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I am outraged by the sentence of domestic violence counseling handed out to Brown for a conviction on vandalism. Such a punishment is similar to government re-education camps in Communist China, Vietnam or Cambodia, where politically unfit people are subjected to psychological behavior modification at the whim of tyrannical governments. Brainwashing is not an appropriate sentence for vandalism, and the facts before the court are that no other crime has been committed. I would feel differently if he had hit her.

Brown has always been my hero. Even if everything published about him is true, I still see heroic qualities. His defiance of the inhumane sentence in this case adds to his stature in my eyes. We Americans always believe that someone else will take responsibility and right any wrongs. I thank God that in this case “someone else” is Brown.

GREGORY UTRECHT

Lake Forest