ASHCROFT BULLIES JUDGES

In Response

Marcos Daniel Jimenez, U.S. attorney for South Florida, protests too
loudly in his defense of Attorney General John Ashcroft (Congress
requires monitoring of sentencing, Aug. 19 Readers' Forum). Ashcroft
plans to more rigidly monitor judges who use their discretion and
issue lighter sentences.

If the attorney general simply were acting on behalf of a
congressional mandate -- as Jimenez implies -- he likely would do so
while also providing personal criticism of the policy. Ashcroft's
silence indicates that he condones such pressure being brought to bear
on judges who might choose mercy over harsh, Draconian
punishments.

It's clear that Ashcroft is a key player in the Bush brothers' agenda
to further solidify America's role as the world's leading jailer. When
he was governor of Texas, President Bush built the state's prison
system into the largest in the free world for per-capita
incarceration. As governor of Florida, Jeb Bush currently oversees
record numbers of inmates, with this past June seeing the highest
influx of new prisoners ever.

Judges who legally disagree with the Bush strategy do not deserve
arm-twisting from Ashcroft. They should be left alone to do their jobs
without his bullying.

STEPHEN HEATH

Drug Policy Forum of Florida

Clearwater