A STUPID DECISION

In the Supreme Court's most recent evisceration of the Constitution, the
judges ruled that elderly folk can be kicked out of public housing if
grandchildren living with them are involved with drugs.

The principle argument put forward by those who applaud the decision is
this: public housing residents are particularly troubled by the crime and
violence associated with drugs, so any and all measures that will reduce
these ill effects are therefore justified.

If I were a Las Vegas bookmaker, I'd offer these optimists a bet at
irresistible odds: 100-to-1 that drug arrests, overdoses, and violence in
the projects are not going to decline significantly over the next two
years, despite the now absolute power of the housing authorities to evict
the family members of druggies. Bet a hundred bucks, win $10,000, if you
really think evicting grandparents is going to help the drug problem in the
projects. Put your money where your mouth is, I'd say.

I wonder if I'd get any takers. Is anyone really that stupid?

The current Supreme Court is a disgrace to our cherished American ideals.
It's the court's job to protect the Constitution, not to whittle away at it
in the name of pointless political expediency. The court has sanctioned an
obvious injustice in order to facilitate an impossible goal -- the very
definition of immoral madness.

Ray Aldridge, Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.