Letters to the Editor

Letters

Glenn Stewart should be a beginning, not an end

I sincerely applaud your even-keeled public response to Glenn Stewart's heinous behavior ["Enough," Feb. 29, 2012], but I question your interpretation of the "greater good" in this situation. Your article suggests that the greater good is to retard the escalation of Stewart's grievances. I respectfully disagree. The greater good in this circumstance is to channel the attention drawn to Stewart's outrage towards vocal women in this community and direct it toward opportunities to fight the other battles, on a shared spectrum of misogyny, that women in our community face every day. Stewart may be exceptional in his sheer mania, his public beating of one assertive woman and his outlandish attempts publicly to shame another, but violence toward women and efforts to silence, humiliate and discredit them are hardly unusual. Rush Limbaugh recently proved that point. Too often, we excuse the behavior of men like these as exceptions, as radical. But the statistics speak for themselves. Here in Acadiana, Faith House responds to roughly 2,500 crisis and counseling calls annually; globally, at least one in three women will experience abuse in her lifetime. Rather than saying "enough," I urge you to make Stewart's actions the starting point of a very public, active discussion of misogyny and violence towards women in this community.

-Sara Ritchey, Lafayette

Harson must see this through

Dr. Glenn Stewart should be appropriately punished by the law and not allowed to plea bargain to a "no consequence" result for his behavior. His year-long campaign of violence indicates this was not a one-time incident but a pattern of abusive behavior. He is guilty of second degree battery and should not be allowed to walk on a misdemeanor. This community should raise a strong voice to the district attorney calling for no plea bargain to a reduced offense.  Any plea bargain would be a toleration of this behavior. Mike Harson, please don't go there.

-Margaret Ritchey, Lafayette