Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Congratulations to the Tri-River Drug Task Force for working hard during a “nearly year-long investigation” and arresting several individuals for drug possession.

Now it is up to the courts to do their job. Week after week we see in the Southside Sentinel and the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal felons receive months or years of jail/prison time only to be reduced to the time they spent in jail waiting for their trial. Even if they violate their probation, their original sentence is just moved out. There seems to be no consequences for actions taken. This applies to all court cases, including DUIs, theft, assault, etc.

The law enforcement officers are doing their job; now let’s see the judges and Commonwealth Attorneys do theirs.

I have heard people say “but the jails and prisons are full.” I say, put a mattress on the floor.  I am not concerned with the inmate’s comfort. I am concerned about the lives that are aff...