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DA’s death penalty
views reflect county’s

Re: “DA didn’t appeal death penalty ruling. Was it all about politics?” (Page A6, July 3).

Former District Attorney Dolores Carr, who lost her position to Jeff Rosen in an election in 2010, writes that District Attorney Jeff Rosen has “abused his oath of office ” by changing death verdicts to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

At the same time, she is critical of Rosen for not filing an appeal in a case where a Superior Court judge maintained a death verdict for Richard Farley.

I support Rosen in both his decision to seek an end to expensive and unnecessary death penalty litigation and his decision to abide by the well-thought-out ruling by a Superior Court judge in the Farley case. Reasoned decision-making like this is one of the many differences between Rosen and people like Donald Trump.

This county is very lucky to have a smart and ethical elected district attorney.

Daniel Mayfield
San Jose

Ex-DA’s letter confuses
death penalty question

Re: “DA didn’t appeal death penalty ruling. Was it all about politics?” (Page A6, July 3).

Judge Dolores Carr’s article about District Attorney Jeff Rosen not appealing a judge’s decision upholding the death sentence of Richard Farley was misleading and unhelpful.

In 2024, Rosen decided that he was no longer going to seek the death penalty, noting that the death penalty is racially biased, error-prone, deters nothing and costs millions of public dollars.

Rosen’s decision garnered wide approval, including a statement of support from Bishop Oscar Cantú of the San Jose Diocese.

Carr would have you believe that the voters of Santa Clara County support the death penalty, whereas in the elections of 2012 and 2016 the Santa Clara County voters rejected the death penalty by a healthy margin. Carr would have you believe that Rosen cares more about murderers than crime victims, whereas he has a section in his office dedicated to crime victims.

We are not going back to the death penalty.

Terence McCaffrey
Palo Alto

There is no profit-based
solution to housing crisis

For every article your paper runs about the lack of affordable housing in the South Bay, it will run another competing article bemoaning the slowing rate of growth in real estate value.

Perhaps this is a sign of a larger problem; we have built an economy where one’s home is often their biggest (or only) asset. There is no structural incentive for anyone in power to actually reduce the cost of housing, and there certainly is no incentive for commercial developers to build enough housing to make their product cheaper and thereby less profitable.

There is no profit-based incentive to reduce the cost of housing. The time is past to consider socialized, nonprofit solutions.

Tony Flemmer
San Jose

Utah project promises
clean energy for all

Re: “Where is the outrage amid climate crisis?” (Page A6, July 4).

The only way to eliminate carbon-based fuel use is to develop less costly green energy production and storage. So far, lithium battery technology is far too costly and dangerous, as the recent fire at the Moss Landing Lithium Battery Power Plant in Monterey County showed.

But a new type of power plant project in Delta, Utah, promises green power at less cost and risk by making hydrogen from excess solar power in the summer and storing it in underground salt domes for later use. It’s supported by the U.S. Energy Department and large energy companies. This is a solution both parties can support.

Ed Kahl
Woodside

Democrats must push
an alternative vision

You can tell if a person is a Democrat by looking at the vast number of inbox emails wanting $5 to $15 to fight the Republicans. This is ridiculous.

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Speaker Hakeem Jeffries needs to come forward and outline a list of priorities for the House that the Democrats will pass when they gain the majority in 2026. These measures should include limitations on the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, an immigration bill that’s fair and humane, restoring Medicaid funding cuts, fair taxes on the wealthy, a commission to investigate the extent of Donald Trump’s dubious financial dealings with the government, and strict oversight of the officials Trump has appointed to his cabinet.

Some people will complain that the list is too inclusive or not inclusive enough, but who cares? Democrats have to stand for something.

Robert Miller
Los Gatos