I attempt to keep in touch with those responsible for local, county and statewide legislation. A recent issue is pension forfeiture for those lawmakers convicted of felony misconduct.

State Sen. Cathy Young has proposed a bill to enact such a provision. I called her office and said to the woman who answered that I oppose it. I explained that conviction, imprisonment, loss of prestige, power and friends is enough punishment. Also, it’s the family who suffers. She patiently heard me out. Later, much to Sen. Young’s credit, I received a letter by mail explaining her stance.

Assemblyman Andrew Goodell had an article in the OBSERVER where he will go one step further from Sen. Young. Presently, convicted lawmakers as Sheldon Silver, Joseph Bruno, and Dean Skelos are exempt from pension forfeiture due to the fact that legal precedence has not yet been established. But, he would require that their pensions be used to pay for their prison room and board! This is pandering to the baser traits of human being. One that I call vindictiveness. A cruel twist of the screws over those convicted, already suffering under the pitiful conditions of incarceration.

With the number of laws out there, I believe that if one digs long enough and hard enough – anybody no matter how exempt they feel they would be – would find themselves on the wrong end?

Sen. Young also sent me an e-mail regarding a Senate reform measure that “… will correct an outdated, and all too often exploited, law that has been turning unsuspecting citizens into criminals.”

This is a law redefining what is a proper pocket knife that one can carry. Seems that some 60,000 New York state citizens within a 10-year window were arrested under what the law states defining certain knives as illegal to possess. This is the way many of our laws work and entrap. Never mind that the knife owner finds that he or she prefers ease of access or it has a locking mechanism; it can be defined as dangerous simply because it has a cutting edge to it, or it surpasses some arbitrary blade length, or worse yet it opens by a spring or a wrist flip.

A knife is a tool, and an owner when necessary should have quick and unfettered access to it and also not have to worry about the blade closing upon his own hand. Thank you Senator Young for your foresight.

In another issue State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s office forwarded an e-mail asking my support on Assembly bill A.7698 which purports “to make a more transparent, equitable criminal justice system.” The State Assembly had passed it and he’d like me to contact my State Senator (Cathy Young) to have her consider it when it reaches the Senate vote. I did.

I’d like to see more voters out there reach out to your representatives. It’s sometimes tedious, time consuming, and possibly confusing. Some of the issues and proposals can be interpreted in different ways. Regardless, your lawmakers will hear you out. Speak your mind or others will do it for you and it may not be for your best interests, but for theirs.

Our men and women didn’t fight for freedom to be wasted on a few, but for everyone to participate. Take part in our democratic process.

Ralph Burke is a Dunkirk resident.