PROTECT OR PROMOTE?

If libertarian Steve Kubby does serve his 120-day jail sentence in custody
he will not be housed in the main jail, but will be lodged in minimum
security barracks. Like all inmates detained in those units, Kubby will be
given a prisoner's job and will work on various county projects. At no time
will his life be subject to "a death sentence" ("Kubby denied change in
jail conditions," April 8).

However, Kubby's presence in the correctional system will be very
controversial, as jail staff hoped Kubby would take three years formal
probation and would not become a legal symbol.

But formal probation allows law officers of the court too much access to
Kubby's home and subjects all his friends who are not in trouble with the
law to search and seizure. Probation welcomes this court action as most
Constitutional rights were signed away in court at the time of sentencing
as conditions of probation - when the very case itself developed over
Constitutional rights being violated as officers reacted on suspicion
without solid facts responded on a "fishing expedition that went sour."

I feel everyone with a chemical dependency deserves the right to treatment
programs. Last year, California voters voted in favor of Proposition 36,
which mandates treatment instead of jail for the first two convictions on
drug possession. Deputy District Attorney Chris Cattran argued that Prop.
36 has no bearing on the case because charges were filed in January 1999.

In the end of all the legal and political jargon I have to ask myself: Are
legal officials really concerned about our laws to protect the citizens, or
are they enhancing their own personal careers?

John Wesley Noble, Auburn