Letters From the Issue of Thursday, June 14, 2007

Like you say, you could see on TV that Joe had no remorse for the people who have died in his jails. He considers them the real joke. He was crowing about winning one of the many lawsuits against him. Well, his winning a suit had to be a first! He has cost taxpayers millions and millions of dollars and has made a mockery of justice in the process.

It was interesting how your article pointed out that he lost a big case at the same time he won that one. Hadn't seen that anywhere else.

Keep hammering on this creep; you're the only news organization in Arizona — and apparently the rest of the country — that won't cream in its jeans over the Idiot Joe Show.
Jack Lieberman, Glendale

JUDGING ROXANNE

Chaos in the court: It's hard to fathom how such an abuse of power could happen in our Phoenix municipal court system. Sarah Fenske did a good job of bringing this outrage out into the open ("Injustice System," May 31).

Presiding Judge Roxanne Song Ong should be ashamed of herself for firing a respected jurist like Michael Carroll for simply speaking up about what's an obvious problem. I'm sure there are those who would argue that Carroll only complained about the appointment of Judge Eric Jeffery to assistant presiding judge because he wanted his wife [Judge Karyn Klausner] to get the job. But as Fenske points out, that's hardly the case.

Jeffery was not only inexperienced, but had a checkered past. Why didn't any of this matter to Song Ong? Apparently, the only thing that mattered to her was eliminating somebody who snapped at her about her awful decision. Her actions are an outrage that cannot be tolerated. I hope the Phoenix City Council does something about this injustice to restore faith in its court system.
Michelle Contreras, Phoenix

A bigger problem: What you have here is a judge (Roxanne Song Ong) with a hunger for power and control and no integrity, a judge (Eric Jeffery) who had a protective order out against him, and a judge (Michael Carroll) who had the courage to respectfully speak up in e-mails and was fired.

Only one judge (Karyn Klausner) had the integrity to stand for what was right and bring attention to what is probably a bigger problem than just one firing.

Other judges and the City Council are complicit in the matter. The city's court system caters more to the rising careers of judges than with citizens getting justice!

In this judicial system, it seems that too many judges have thrown integrity out with the baby and the bathwater while judges with integrity are paying the price, and so are the citizens of Phoenix.
Pamela Walsh, via the Internet

Complicit council: Great article. I hope it will light a fire under this court and under the City Council. Only one thing you overlooked: There is another possible explanation for what Judge Song Ong screwed up. She may be corrupt, but ditto the City Council.
Eric Daure, via the Internet