THE RISE OF THE POLICE STATE

What a month! A police officer tickets an elderly woman who can't
cross a Los Angeles boulevard in the time allotted by a don't-walk
sign. A little old lady in east Sacramento is cited for rolling
through a stop sign on her bicycle with nary a car in sight.

Now Drug Enforcement Administration officers raid a medical marijuana
outlet on 16th Street ("DEA agents hit 16th St. store in medical pot
raid," April 20), dragging one of the owners out of bed in her pajamas.

Speaking of pajamas, a teenage girl of Middle East descent is dragged
from her bed similarly clad and arrested for a minor vehicle accident
already resolved by the parties involved.

Meanwhile, two teenagers will be tried as adults for a murder even
though teenagers who seek information on such things as safe sex and
drugs are "protected" from such information because they are "just
kids." Welcome to the future of America! Armed with the ability to
spy on Americans willy-nilly by an administration that condones
torture, endless war and war profiteering in the name of patriotism,
police chests are puffing.

No need to read "1984" to learn about police states. Read the newspaper.

- - Michael R. Gorman

Sacramento