Breaking law is not appropriate recourse

On July 13 a Fox News website story led with this, “Salt LakeCity — A list containing the names and personal information of 1,300 people who an anonymous group contends are illegal immigrants has been mailed around Utah, terrifying the state’s Hispanic community.” Further into the story Fox reported, “A letter accompanying the list demands that those on it be deported immediately.”

The governor of Utah asked state agencies to investigate, apparently suspecting that such information was most easily accessible to them.

On July 16, the Associated Press reported that the investigation had identified two state employees of the Department of Workforce Services, which administers food stamp programs and other public benefits, who were believed to be responsible for producing and disseminating the list. They have been put on administrative leave and are the subjects of a criminal investigation by the Utah Attorney General.

These two appear to be upset by the illegal immigration issue and decided to take the law into their own hands to deal with it.

Why is it that those who adamantly oppose some issues feel that breaking the law is an appropriate recourse. We see it both here and in the abortion issue. The only significant difference is that illegal immigrants are breaking the law, murdered abortion doctors were not.

BOB WYNHAUSEN

Sandpoint