This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

From today's Salt Lake Tribune:

— Sen. Urquhart wants to abolish Utah's 'broken' death penalty — Jennifer Dobner | The Salt Lake Tribune

" ... Utah's conservative, sometime libertarian-leaning politics may actually help pass a bill, he said. Conservatives don't believe that government does many things well and certainly not perfectly, he said.

" 'And yet we arrogate to ourselves the power over life and death,' he said. 'There's a serious disconnect there.'..."

Couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Not that we didn't try.

— The conservative case against the death penalty — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial, Oct 24, 2015

" ... Support for capital punishment, over that same period, has mostly come from the conservative end of the spectrum. Which sometimes has seemed very strange indeed, given that those are the folks who, according to the stereotype, don't trust the government to do anything right.

"The same political philosophy that questioned the right, or the competence, of the state to run schools, regulate markets, inspect restaurants, set speed limits or limit firearms seemed altogether sanguine with the idea that that same government should hold the literal power of life and death over individuals — and be trusted to always get it right. ..."

Also from today's Trib:

­— Officials seek reforms after Utah youths e-cig use quintuples in 5 years — Lee Davidson | The Salt Lake Tribune

"Use of e-cigarettes by Utah youths quintupled in the past five years — and one of every 10 now say they have vaped in the past 30 days. That news had state health officials and lawmakers calling Tuesday for reforms to restrict that industry.

" 'You have an industry made up of scumbags,' Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, said about the e-cigarette industry. 'E-cigarettes are an assault on our children. ... I'll clearly state right here, my goal is to put the tobacco industry out of business.'..."

Hmmm. We of The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board seldom refer to anyone as "scumbags." And we are skeptical of the ability of any state to put any industry out of business.

But.

— Vaping supplies deserve state oversight — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial, Dec. 3, 2015

" ... if vaping supplies aren't sold in legal, regulated commerce, they will become a booming black market business, beyond the reach of efforts to maximize the technology's effectiveness and minimize its harm. And the potential for harm is large when vaping is taken up by people, mostly young people attracted to the often candy-flavored varieties, who never smoked before.

"Then, e-cigs are just another nicotine delivery system, addictive, poisonous and worthy of government oversight. ..."

And:

— Ex-judge asks Obama to commute Utah man's 'unjust, cruel and irrational' sentence — Michael McFall and Pamela Manson | The Salt Lake Tribune

"A former federal judge is asking President Barack Obama to commute the 'unjust, cruel and irrational' prison sentence he was forced to hand down to a Utah man 12 years ago.

"In 2004, then-U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell sentenced Weldon Angelos, a music producer who had no prior criminal record, to a minimum 55 years in prison for gun-and-drug convictions for three times selling marijuana to a police informant. ..."

— Why is Weldon Angelos still in prison? — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial, July 23, 2015

"Is there anyone out there who wants to keep Weldon Angelos in prison?

"Angelos, the so-called poster boy for ridiculous federal sentences for drug offenders, still sits in prison, Tribune Columnist Paul Rolly points out, while President Barack Obama has commuted the sentences of 46 other offenders with similar sentences. ..."