Letters To The Editor

CIVIL LIBERTIES FALL VICTIM TO GOVERNMENT

There are certain reliable litmus tests for comprehending our Bill of
Rights. For example: anyone advocating a "flag burning" amendment is
telling us he or she really doesn't understand the First Amendment.
Similarly, someone using fear of terrorism to justify trials by secretly
appointed tribunals with the rules of evidence suspended and sentences
carried out without judicial review clearly doesn't understand the Fifth.

That the most vociferous apologist for George Bush's executive order
suspending the constitutional protections of those charged with "terrorism"
should be Attorney General John Ashcroft is deeply disturbing.

Those of us who opposed his nomination were concerned that he really
doesn't understand the Constitution; how quickly he has shown that judgment
to be correct.

Tom O'Connell

San Mateo