
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 11, 1994                   TAG: 9408020068
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

A LA SINGAPORE

WE NEED to find ways to get serious in this country other than through violence.

In the wake of Singapore's caning last month of an American teen-ager:

A California assembly committee has proposed a law allowing juvenile graffiti-painters to be spanked in open court. A Cincinnati city councilman wants to allow public paddling of vandals. Six St. Louis aldermen are looking into caning for teen graffiti-writers.

And so on. We need to be much more creative in inducing young people to follow the law and show respect for persons and property. In many cases, we need swifter and harsher punishment.

But, leaving aside the little matter of the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, why would government want to send the message that brutality is an appropriate response to something we don't like?

Some of these public officials ought to be disciplined. Not with paddles, of course, but at the polls.

by CNB