Letters to the Editor: Ruling allowing troop deployment in Oregon echoes previous legal ‘tragedies’
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To the editor: Federal appellate courts cannot reweigh evidence, much less imagine evidence that doesn’t exist. As the dissenting opinion points out, the uncontroverted evidence established absence of any threat to the laws or government of the United States in Portland sufficient to justify the deployment of federal troops (“Trump has power to command National Guard troops in Oregon, 9th Circuit rules,” Oct. 20).
The Portland decision repeats tragedies that result from legal decisions made contrary to evidence: Dred Scott vs. Sanford, which upheld slavery; Plessy vs. Ferguson, holding that the 14th Amendment does not forbid race discrimination in public accommodations and transportation; and Korematsu vs. United States, upholding the expulsion and incarceration of Japanese Americans from their homes because of their race alone.
Gerald Sato, Westlake Village
