ANOTHER SIDE OF THIS COIN

Re your March 7 editorial, "Three Strikes: Ineffective, Costly": There
is another side of this coin. You fail to point out that the Justice Policy
Institute is a leftleaning organization that always champions liberal causes
such as prisoners' rights.

All "pointed studies of the law's costs and effects" of threestrikes
authorized by the Democratcontrolled state Legislature must be viewed
with the same suspicion. Your continuing attacks on the initiative
process in California demonstrates the fear liberals have about this
mechanism that provides a way for citizens to place needed laws on the
books that the specialinterestdriven Legislature refuses to enact.

Overwhelming voter approval of Propositions 187, 209 and 227 stick in
the craw of liberals because they epitomize bottomup democracy at work
rather than the topdown, biggovernmentknowsbest philosophy that
liberals embrace.

DONALD HIRT
Paso Robles