PRAISE FOR JUDGE HIMEL

God bless Judge Himel for allowing high school students to cross- examine a
drug cop from the jury box in his courtroom during their field trip to the
Halls of Justice. Although the practice deviated from protocol, it made a
mockery (or model) of drug-war proceedings for the public to judge.

The drug war is a bad, deadly joke, aimed mostly at the poor and people of
color. The daily travesty of justice seen in drug prosecutions in courts
across our land, respectfully, earns the modicum of decorum and respect
shown it by Judge Himel. Hopefully, the public will give as much thought to
the wisdom of the killer drug war and its courtroom front lines as it does
to the judge's handling of this routine drug-war case. Both merit cause for
pause.

Secondly, Judge Himel acquitted the drug defendant. Hopefully, the evidence
supported the court's decision, because judges are duty-bound to follow the
law no matter how awful or harmful. Regardless, as a taxpayer, thank
goodness for the acquittal. We'll now need one less Sheriff Sheehan
drug-war pup tent on the grounds of the Cook County Jail sprawl.

How dare the sheriff mention more jail construction - a new division
(Division XII). The taxpayer suffered from the doubling of the bonded
indebtedness of Cook County when the capacity of the Cook County Jail
expanded from 9,000 to 10,000. The county board should invest in one
drug-war pup tent, and reserve it for the sheriff.

James E. Gierach
Oak Lawn