PD Editorial: Quick takes and postscripts

Tennessee’s assault on democracy

In a basic test of democracy this week, Tennessee legislators failed miserably. Republicans in the Tennessee House ousted two Democratic colleagues who advocated for gun safety laws after three 9-year-old children and three adults were shot to death in a Nashville school. Yes, Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson broke the rules by using a bullhorn to rile up supporters in the House chamber. They aren’t exempt from consequences. Indeed, if they had been censured or pulled from their committees, odds are there wouldn’t have been any controversy. But expulsion, a punishment typically reserved for corruption and other serious offenses, is wildly out of proportion. Their constituents have been disenfranchised, and a timely and important debate on gun safety has been stifled in the wake of yet another deadly attack on an elementary school. Of course, nothing in Tennessee law prevents Jones and Pearson from running again. It would be a fitting conclusion if voters reelected them.

End price gouging at jails

Sonoma County jail inmates who recently ended a 10-day hunger strike aren’t alone in protesting the high cost of phone calls and commissary items. Federal lawsuits filed over the past week in San Diego and Los Angeles contend that excessive markups and commissions amount to illegal taxes on inmates and their families. Additional claims are planned against Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino and San Joaquin counties, the Los Angeles Times reported. Sonoma County isn’t on the list, but the civil grand jury called out high costs for phone calls and commissary items at the Sonoma County Jail two years ago in a report that concluded “our jail should not be a profit generating entity.” The cost of a local phone call has been reduced from 20 cents a minute to 7 cents, but that’s still excessive and isolating for inmates who spend up to 23 hours a day in their cells. As we noted in an editorial following the grand jury report, but many county jail haven’t been convicted of anything. They are awaiting trial. Others are paying a debt to society. No one expects jail to be pleasant, but it shouldn’t include price gouging.

Opening day, tradition and change

Baseball is a game rich with traditions, and few of them are better than opening day. The San Francisco Giants played their home opener Friday — the 140th since the team was founded in New York in 1883 — and this one was different from any of the others. For the first time, a clock set the pace of the game. Batters had 30 seconds to get in the box, pitchers had 15 seconds to deliver a pitch, and 20 seconds when a runner was on base. That’s not all. The bases are bigger this year, and infielders must stay on the dirt; no more moving the second basemen 50 feet into the outfield. Baseball fans, like their game, are traditionalists. They tend to resist change. (If you doubt that, just ask about the designated hitter rule.) But the new rules are promising. They’re supposed to deliver more hits, more runs, more base stealing and a faster pace of play. So far, they seem to be delivering. Alas, the Giants fell short Friday, but there’s a long season ahead. Play ball!

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