WEAKENS PROTECTIONS

Re " 'Sniff-and-search' takes bite out of 4th Amendment," editorial,
Nov. 18:

Once again the U.S. Supreme Court has weakened the Fourth Amendment
protections against illegal searches and seizures by ruling that a
sniff of a vehicle by a drug-sniffing dog does not constitute a
search. We are all worse off because of this ruling.

I am reminded of the wise words of former Florida Supreme Court
Justice Gerald Kogan, "If the zeal to eliminate drugs leads this state
and nation to forsake its ancient heritage of constitutional liberty,
then we will have suffered a far greater injury than drugs can ever
inflict upon us. . . . There will be nothing to protect us from the
threat of a different kind -- people who, as history teaches,
sometimes abuse positions of authority in government and its agencies."

Charles Smyth, Daytona Beach