To the Editor:

It’s unclear where Justin Conley (“Vindictive measure should send message,” The Smoky Mountain News, Jan. 11 issue) gets his information about the John Locke Foundation’s reaction to last week’s controversial session of the N.C. General Assembly.

Lumping our organization with others and with state House Speaker Thom Tillis, Conley writes that JLF “came out against the coverage of the midnight session,” implying that we were “condemning journalists” for their articles.

On the contrary, the John Locke Foundation publicly criticized Republican House leaders, not reporters. President John Hood wrote in a Jan. 9 column, “I don’t think holding a sudden veto-override vote in the middle of the night was a good idea. I think it set a bad precedent, one that might well come back to bite future governors and legislators, and further damaged the prospects for trust and collegiality on Jones Street.”

Think I’m taking the comment out of context? Please feel free to read the entire column here: http://ow.ly/8mAIT.

Mr. Conley says that his grandmother always told him “nothing good happens after midnight.” One wonders what she told him about getting his facts straight.

Mitch Kokai

Director of Communications

John Locke Foundation