FRIVOLOUS FELONIES; FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS

Economist Henry Aaron said, "Implicit in capitalism is a whole
collection of values and it's the job of democracy to fashion
institutions that support those values."

Supreme Court Justice Brandeis said, "In a government of laws,
existence of the government will be imperilled if it fails to observe
the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent
teacher. For good or for ill it teaches the whole people by its example."

What government example could teach people to file frivolous or
outrageous lawsuits perhaps overstating the facts? How about the
so-called war on drugs? The state spends a couple of thousand dollars
to turn a $10 or $20 crime into a felony, or to put it officially, put
another drug dealer behind bars for a nice return of $30,000 a year
from the federal government to house each of these public enemies. In
the meantime, elected officials can say they are tough on crime and
allow people to be harvested from the crime tree while allowing the
tree itself to grow and prosper, producing more fruit ripe for the
picking.

How can we possibly have as many felony drug convictions as we do in
this state, especially on the Coast, unless six out of ten of us are
addicted to drugs? Our democracy has fashioned values to support penal
institutions. Overstated charges, frivolous felonies, frivolous lawsuits.

GEORGE J. WASHINGTON

Biloxi