I wish the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board had reached out to me prior to making its endorsement for Palm Beach state attorney.
In my view, Gregg Lerman would not be an effective state attorney.
To my knowledge, he has never spent one day as a prosecutor. His entire orientation is as a defense counsel and his style of advocacy, in my view, has been misdirection.
The state attorney, as the community’s top law enforcement official, is a part of an adversarial system.
The two sides of criminal justice system are not mirror images. A prosecutor’s advocacy carries special ethical obligations. Having some experience in holding others accountable for committing crimes –– in the right measure and manner –– should be a critical job qualification for the position.
Lerman’s lack of experience as prosecutor, while not technically disqualifying, should cause one to pause in a race for the singular state attorney position.
Notably, the position of public defender is also open in this election in Palm Beach County. While there are strong candidates in that race, Lerman’s background and sentiments seem much better suited to the defender role.
Palm Beach County needs a thoughtful, ethical, nonpartisan prosecutor. I do not believe Lerman would serve the community well in a prosecutorial role in the public trust.
Michael McAuliffe, Palm Beach Gardens
The writer is a former Palm Beach County state attorney.
The choice is clear
So much for Republican minority outreach.
The first thing the GOP did after Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee was to trot out racist, chauvinistic comments.
Republicans in Congress called her a “DEI hire” and unqualified because she’s a woman.
Trump called her “dumb as a rock” and mocked her laugh. Such comments are insulting and childish and they show how low the Republican Party has stooped.
The choice is clear. Do we want a better future where we are free to control our lives and bodies and to work together to make this a more inclusive country? Or do we want Trump’s dark and dystopian vision of America?
Trump goes after anyone who disagrees with him. In Trump’s America, the government tells you who to love and what you can do with your body, and history whitewashes the horrific treatment of the Black community.
I want to control my own life and not worry that if I say the wrong thing, Trump’s thought police might come after me. I want a future where a woman can be president and not be mocked and belittled by small, petty people.
Steven Hoover, Margate
Biden’s last straw
The timing of President Biden’s case of Covid could not have been scripted better.
It came in the 11th hour of a crisis that a week later would have made no difference. While a storm gathered, Biden got Covid. The disease did not end his reelection campaign, but it was the last straw.
I write this on my third day of having Covid, self-isolating at home. I am 80, Biden’s junior by a year. I’m active and healthy. Being sick has slowed me down enough to catch glimpses of my humanity and what the future may hold. Sickness does this, and Biden is no exception.
Had Biden not contracted Covid at this moment, he likely would have been out campaigning full-bore to salvage his candidacy. Staying active is a great way to not look inward.
Covid prevented Biden from soldiering on. He never would have had the necessary quiet time to reflect on his future, his legacy and the future of the country.
George Shelley, Fort Lauderdale
Democracy in action?
A Sun Sentinel editorial referred to Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race as a “selfless act.”
Selfless? When you disenfranchise the votes of 15 million Democratic primary voters and cave in to big-money donors and party bosses? Democracy in action indeed.
Ralph Rehmet, Deerfield Beach
