SURPRISING RULING

A June 18 editorial cited a recent Supreme Court Decision that supported
the sanctity of the home vs. unreasonable searches.

You said that the government could act without a warrant if officers
noticed noxious fumes emanating from a house. The thermal imaging device is
only an extension of vision. It only shows which roofs have hot spots. It
does not image anything in the building.

Surprising is the correct adjective for this decision -- it is protecting
constitutional rights instead of destroying them, as have many recent
decisions.

We are losing many rights in the name of fighting drug wars. Previous court
rulings have ignored basic constitutional rights to promote these wars
against our own people. This one may be the first ruling in many years that
limited police power in drug arrests.

We are sacrificing health care, education and national infrastucture to
fund a war that we can never win. We are allowing obscene drug profits to
corrupt our federal and local officials, our courts, our banking industry
and otherwise honest people.

As with Prohibition and Vietnam, it's time to declare that we have lost the
war and to get on with our lives.

Sherwin Rubin
Arlington