Burchell avoided the issue of Sylvia taking the 5th

To The Daily Sun,

In his bitter, misogynistic letter of Jan. 18, Dick Burchell responded to my comments about Rep. Michael Sylvia with a combination of name-calling and falsehoods. In particular, he referred to me as a “harridan” (defined as an “unpleasant old woman”) for having the temerity to criticize his cohort. In the past, Mr. Burchell has described me as “screechy” and “preachy”. These terms have in common that they are exclusively applied to women. The times they are a-changing, Mr. Burchell, and perhaps you might want to step out of your 19th-century cave and accept the fact that women vote, they have opinions, and they sometimes even express them.

My criticism of Rep. Sylvia was that he took the 5th Amendment rather than testify in the civil case brought against him by the Town of Belmont. Far from exhibiting humility, Mr. Sylvia put himself above the law, seemingly feeling that land use ordinances requiring a functioning septic system did not apply to him, as an elected official.

Dick Burchell avoided the issue of one of our representatives (and the head of the Belknap County delegation) refusing to testify. Instead, he sidestepped to an attack on me as a “hypocrite” who “employed [the 5th Amendment] with regularity” as an ACLU lawyer. In fact, my legal career consisted of working for a state Attorney General’s Office and then for insurance companies, defending people and companies in civil negligence lawsuits. Never once did any client of mine assert a 5th Amendment right to refuse to testify on the basis that the answer could lead to criminal prosecution. Not once.

The facts, please, just the facts.

Ruth Larson

Alton