Expelled Oregon legislator Mike Nearman was fined and sentenced to community service after pleading guilty to official misconduct for letting right-wing protesters into the closed state Capitol building.

Case closed? Not quite. Questions about his fine and sentence:

Will a record of his “community service” be available to the public? Will he be allowed to count, for instance, volunteering at his church? Picking up trash on the highway? Serving on a board of a right-wing non-profit? Where else?

How will such records be accessed by the public?

Will his fine be paid or reimbursed by his right-wing buddies as happened with the legislators who walked out?

Unless the fine and sentence have a real impact on his life and our community, they are coddling him and not the deterrent to him and others they are meant to be.

David Stone

Springfield

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