Thomas must recuse
himself in Jan. 6 case
This is regarding “Clarence Thomas faces calls to recuse himself” (Tribune-Herald, Dec. 23).
The damage to the entire legal system of the U.S. is already done. The U.S. Supreme Court has irretrievably lost much of its traditional credibility, and Thomas is only the tip of the iceberg of a politicized and even corrupt legal system.
The SCOTUS is “charged with ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and, thereby, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution.”
Plainly put, the bucket stops there, and final decisions must be made concerning the entire country. Our entire value system hinges on that.
Already in June 2022, the conservative majority of the court overturned Roe v. Wade, irresponsibly allowing each state to establish its own laws regarding abortion, which has caused major legal, medical, ethical and religious turmoil across the country.
Thomas and others on the court, such as Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal, and Samuel Alito, a conservative, have regularly received massive gifts from various billionaires without reporting those to the government contrary to the rules, and then decided on cases in favor of those secret sponsors.
If Thomas does not recuse himself now concerning the upcoming cases with former President Donald Trump and his direct involvement in the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021 — strongly influenced by Thomas’s wife, Ginni — that will be the nail in the coffin of SCOTUS.
The majority of Americans certainly agrees with that negative evaluation, but whether there is any shred of ethics left in Thomas or his colleagues remains to be seen. The heart and soul of the United States of America are at stake now.
Albrecht Classen
Hilo
Land board stands
firm during key vote
On Dec. 8, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted unanimously to grant a formal public petition to initiate rule-making to prohibit the destructive commercial collection of reef wildlife for the aquarium pet trade.
During the final vote, unknown parties attempted to derail the board’s unanimous approval by raising a “legal question” regarding the BLNR’s ability to prohibit aquarium collecting (Tribune-Herald, Dec. 25).
Fortunately, BLNR saw through this last-minute attempt and continued to vote in full favor of the petition.
Any legitimate legal issue would have been raised sometime during the 49 days preceding the vote, when the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the state attorney general were reviewing and approving the rule language, which is required prior to its consideration by BLNR.
The Division of Aquatic Resources must now begin rule-making as the full board rightfully directed them, and as the community has long desired.
Rene Umberger
Kihei, Maui
