Our children’s lives are not disposable

To Gov. Greg Gianforte, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and our Flathead Valley, we are friends of the Alexander family. Their 16-year-old daughter, Hazel, was critically injured by a career criminal on Jan. 9. While Hazel’s story was featured by numerous articles in Daily Inter Lake, followed by a letter from her parents published on March 12, we are writing today not just as friends but also as rightfully outraged parents.

Like the Alexanders, we have teenage daughters on the road. Every time they drive, we feel a constant, heavy fear for their safety. While driving can be dangerous in itself, we carry an additional burden no parent should have to bear — one created by a justice system that seems to prioritize the rights of repeat offenders over our children’s lives.

We are endlessly grateful for Hazel’s survival. Her recovery is a miracle, fueled by her own strength and the many prayers lifted on her behalf. But as we celebrate, we cannot ignore a heavy truth: she should never have been in such danger in the first place.

As parents, we should be able to trust that our legal system will keep our communities safe. Its job is to prevent tragedies by keeping dangerous individuals off the streets. When that system fails, every child is left vulnerable and every parent pays the price.

We are calling you out by name. We are done with empty “thoughts and prayers” and hollow campaign promises. Our children are paying the price for your inaction.

We demand to know exactly what you will do to stop the revolving door of our justice system. When will you fix the lax bail requirements and the blatant failure to monitor high-risk criminals in Flathead County? We don’t want excuses — we want a system that values our children’s lives more than a repeat offender’s freedom.

Gianforte: What is your executive plan to ensure Montana’s sentencing laws actually keep dangerous individuals off our streets?

Knudsen: How will your office hold local prosecutors and judges accountable when they fail to seek justice for victims?

State Sens. John Fuller (SD 4), Mark Noland (SD 5) and Dave Fern (SD 2): What legislative emergency measures will you sponsor to address the specific judicial failures occurring in our backyard?

State Reps. Courtenay Sprunger (HD 7), Tony Brockman (HD 9), Terry Falk (HD 10), Debo Powers (HD 3), Lyn Bennett (HD 4), and Amy Regier (HD 6): As our direct voices in Helena, how will you ensure that the safety of Flathead Valley families is the top priority in the next session?

Flathead County Commissioners Brad Abell, Randy Brodehl and Pamela Holmquist: What are you doing locally to fund and oversee a system that is currently failing its most basic duty — public safety?

Flathead County District Judges Amy Eddy, Paul Sullivan, Heidi J. Ulbricht, Dan Wilson and Danni Coffman: What changes are you making in your courtrooms today to ensure that those who pose a clear threat to our community are not released back into it — as happened when you let the criminal out?

As parents of daughters who are just starting their adult lives, we refuse to sit by and wait for the next “close call” to turn into a tragedy. We are demanding a public response and a concrete timeline for reform.

Our friends are witnessing a miracle in their daughter’s recovery, but the system that allowed this to happen is still broken. We will not let her fight for health be overshadowed by your inaction.

What are you going to do about it?

Anna and Damian Gajda live in Kalispell.