Enforcement of Laws

First, some technical business--I have been informed that the official city logo is to be used solely for official city business. Since this blog is the most unofficial endeavour since network news declared Al Gore the new President, I have removed the logo and will now feature various photos of our city.

Let's now move quickly into this letter to the editor. It will be an easy read, as all commentary is at the end.

Our mayor wants to assign police officers to crack down on merchants who put illegal sandwich-board signs out on the sidewalk.

I applaud her. This must have taken courage. We should enforce the law!

It's about time that our elected officials focused on the real criminals. The sooner we get these vicious criminals behind bars, the safer our streets will be.
TOM RIBIS, Annapolis

It took me a minute--mostly because I was in the sun all day today--but I eventually observed the sarcasm in your tone of voice. On the one hand, I agree with your point. There are many more important issues that the mayor should be worrying about, including crime and perhaps a more cooperative relationship with the county. The fact that the administration and police chief have failed to address or even acknowledge the crime problem has been a constant complaint of AP and others.

On the other hand, and this is important, ALL laws should be enforced. If a law is silly, outdated, or over burdensome, we really need to take a look at whether we should have the law at all. If a law exists, the forces of democracy have conspired to deem that ordinance necessary, and it should be enforced. And, we should devote as many resources as we can to enforce the laws.

Trying to prioritize which laws are enforced is a slippery slope. Think about the illegal immigrant debacle! All laws, by the mere fact they are laws, should be enforced equally and to the fullest extent possible.