ROADBLOCKS AND COURTS

To the Editor:

Re "Supreme Court Bars Roadblocks Set Up to Search for Drugs" (front page,
Nov. 29):

In the 6-to-3 decision, the dissenting opinion by Chief Justice William H.
Rehnquist, who was joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas,
said drug-interdiction roadblock searches and seizures are consistent with
the Fourth Amendment. This does not seem to reflect the America of
Jefferson or the America that I envision for my grandchildren.

It is thought-provoking that only two more votes in this case could have
projected the United States into the police-roadblock age. This should
remind us that we are never more than five votes away from the loss of a
constitutional right.

I have seen government roadblocks, with random checks of citizens' papers,
during visits to Turkey, Senegal and Bolivia. That is part of the reason it
is always reassuring to return to the United States. Let's keep it that way.

David Harrington, Troy, Mich., Dec. 1, 2000