Voters need more information to judge judges

I suggest that The Baltimore Sun do its readers a great service and develop a system to enable readers to evaluate the judicial candidates in the next election. There seems to be no information on the qualifications and performance of judges. All we know is to which party the judge is aligned. There is not much information to evaluate the candidates (“Baltimore County judges face challenger in unusually contentious race,” May 12).

Maybe you could get one of the Baltimore-based law schools to develop a matrix to evaluate candidates. Then voters could decide on the best candidates. Seems to me that this is an action a responsible newspaper would undertake.

— John Berwind, Baltimore

Alsobrooks campaigns on fear and division

I find the TV ads demonizing Republicans offered by Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in her U.S. Senate campaign a sign of an empty vessel (“Poll: Angela Alsobrooks maintains lead over Larry Hogan while still unknown to many Maryland voters,” Sept. 4).

She is not trying to bring people together; instead, she seeks to further divide. She appears to be short on experience and policies to help our state and long on party loyalty. Her focus on driving fear is not an attractive future for Maryland

— J. Matthew McGlone, Towson

Hogan has personality to be influential in Senate

Patty Nichols is wrong in believing Larry Hogan would not be influential in the Senate (Hogan wouldn’t have much power in the Senate, Sept. 2). In a closely divided Senate, he would assume the role that the retiring Sen. Joe Manchin has played. He would be the swing vote who could moderate the woke nonsense of the Democrats and the extreme conservatism of some Republicans. It worked for Manchin and will work for a moderate senator like Hogan. He has the perfect personality to be quite influential.

— Barry Caplis, Baltimore

Action on gun violence is long overdue

Will we ever come to our senses about guns? A school shooting in Georgia just killed two students and two teachers, and nine others were injured. Now, here in Maryland, a student was shot to death in a Harford County high school (“Joppatowne High School shooting: student dies, suspect in custody,” Sept. 6).

After Sandy Hook and Parkland and Uvalde and Las Vegas and so many more, very little has changed. Progressive states like Maryland take measures to try to protect us but, even then, National Rifle Association extremists challenge new controls and often have success because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s equally extreme rulings on the Second Amendment. Almost no meaningful action has taken place at the national level, despite widespread support for universal background checks, the banning of assault weapons and other common-sense policies. And, in the Joppatowne case, what the heck is a 16-year kid doing with a gun in a school bathroom? And why are so many young people in cities like Baltimore armed with deadly weapons.

We’ve lost our minds.

— Herb Cromwell, Catonsville

The Ravens aren’t the Chiefs. That’s OK

Dr. Doom is out early this year (Mike Preston: Ravens have grit, but they need to fix familiar problems to dethrone Chiefs). Preston tears into a football game that makes it seem on par with a presidential election. The Ravens aren’t the Kansas City Chiefs. Neither are the other 30 NFL teams. The flaws are still there. Penalties, “dumb” penalties, poor play calling, sloppy defense. These are alll things you will be able to apply to 14 teams Monday morning.

Let’s not act like internet Orioles fans that declare the season over after every loss.

— Jay Esterson, Annapolis

Hogan would be a critical swing vote in Senate

Retired Gen. John Teichert had it right in his commentary piece on Sept. 2 (One-party rule won’t solve Maryland’s problems). His point was excellent that an independent-minded Sen. Larry Hogan would be “at the nexus of every decision in Congress as a critical swing vote.” For too long, Maryland’s Congressional Democrats have reflexively fallen in line with the diktats of their party and thereby diluted their own influence. As we’ve seen independent thinkers in Congress from other states magnify their voting importance in ways that have benefited their constituents, we could expect a Senator Hogan to do the same for Maryland. Former Gov. Larry Hogan deserves support for U.S. Senate.

— Peter Johnsen, Pasadena