Idaho should retain regulations on civilian militia groups. They’re dangerous | Opinion

Sen. Dan Foreman’s claim that his bill (S 1007) to repeal Idaho’s ban on militia groups parading in public with guns is necessary because the ban violates First and Second Amendment rights, is incorrect, according to Mary McCord, legal director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law and former U.S. assistant attorney general for national security.

McCord submitted a letter to Idaho’s House and Senate leadership stating “Idaho’s prohibition against unauthorized paramilitary organizations is fully consistent with the First and Second Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and with the Idaho Constitution.” The Supreme Court has already upheld a law forbidding paramilitary activity by “any body of men whatever, other than the regular organized volunteer militia.”

Idaho’s statute is a protection for everyone. We do not want private militias to appear armed in public. Such unregulated militias might show up anywhere, anytime, at peaceful protest marches or polling places. Armed militias present a form of intimidation.

Idaho’s current statute restricts unauthorized groups with weapons that often hinder or complicate actions by police. We urge legislators to maintain this ban to ensure that we all feel safe to exercise our rights to free speech and assembly without intimidation.

Kathy Dawes, Moscow

No Priest Lake Siphon

One of the largest pristine lakes in our country is Priest Lake, the “Crown Jewel of Idaho.” The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has a laudatory goal of trying to cool the waters of Priest River during the summer to establish and enhance a trout fishery below the lake.

However well-meaning they may be (and they are) IDFG has suggested a most ill-conceived plan to build an 8000-foot siphon (5 feet in diameter) to suck cold water from the hypolimnion (a level of the lake with cool water) and dump the cooler water over the outlet dam into the river.

SB 1021, now pending in the Idaho Legislature, would simply require the approval of the legislature, as well as the governor, before any plan offered by IDFG (or any other entity) could be implemented. Such oversight is required to avoid any harm or damage to one of the most beautiful lakes in North America.

Please contact and encourage your state representative and senator to pass SB 1021.

Go to stopthepriestlakesiphon.org to see why this is so important.

Steve Rice, Lewiston

Testimony from minors

If I could speak to Bruce Skaug and his ilk at the Idaho Legislature, it would be first to remind them of their legislative duty:

The Idaho Legislature is responsible for translating the public will into public policy for the state, levying taxes, appropriating public funds, and overseeing the administration of state agencies.

Second: To borrow from Michael Steele, former RNC Chair, “stop with the stupid.”

Third: Please focus on overhauling the property tax code; figure out a reliable funding stream for schools; work on infrastructure; maybe even expand the ISP (because adherence to traffic code is now apparently voluntary).

And as tedious as it is to have teenagers testifying before your august body, remember that you can provide them with a learning experience, or you can be dismissive and hope they never realize their voting potential.

Gordon Barkley, Emmett

Support Caldwell School Board

Thank you to the Caldwell School Board members for providing a safe and respectful learning environment for all of our children, and for donating countless hours of your time each month to manage the affairs of Caldwell public schools. As to the Jan. 9 board meeting, it must have been terribly disheartening for you to have to sit patiently through mostly irrelevant and/or ill-informed testimony from patrons in opposition to the proposed policy 3281, only for Sen. Trakel to force an early adjournment. By his blatantly ignoring the rules for speaking and by making false statements, Trakel apparently intended to inflame the crowd, forcing the meeting to end early. Trakel’s conduct was certainly unbecoming of any elected official. I have to question if Trakel forced the early shutdown, playing a long game of dissuading civic-minded citizens from serving on public school boards, in his campaigning for school choice. What better way to cause the closure of public schools than to dissuade people from serving on school boards. Now Raul Labrador weighs in with his personal/political opinion, declining to give any reference to Idaho law to support his opinion thus diminishing the integrity of the attorney general’s office.

Tom Newton, Caldwell