So Hillsborough detective Linda Burton, who was responsible for getting permission to bug the Eisenbergs' home, "could not explain the discrepancies between what detectives wrote in the applications and what was written in other documents" (Nation World,Dec. 15). Please allow me to explain what she could not, or, more accurately, would not, explain. From federal prosecutors lying to judges about the identity of witnesses, to Florida Highway Patrolmen lying to judges about why they stopped cars, to numerous other cases of prosecutorial misconduct outlined in The Tampa Tribune, it is abundantly clear why these abuses occur. Once a person has been targeted by prosecutors, that person becomes "the enemy" as surely as enemies are declared in a war. [continues 248 words]
Re: "Punishment or treatment?" (A-1, Aug. 6): Your story demonstrated why Proposition 36 should be passed in November. In the same edition, your Arts section reported that the city of San Diego has a $10 million budget for the arts. That just happens to be the same amount as the state has pledged for drug courts under the Drug Court Partnership Act. Until we have more funding for drug offenders as we have in drug courts now, we must continue with our current drug policies. Proposition 36 would provide $120 million annually to enable us to have a new and different relationship with drug offenders. The criminal justice system always has adjusted to changes in the law and I am sure it will accommodate whatever Proposition 36 may bring. David W. Ryan, Superior Court Judge, Vista [end]
Cannabis treatment is witheld because the pharmaceutical companies will not make money from a common plant. If cannabis is God's gift to the sick then it is our duty to make sure they can legally obtain it. In the past cannabis has been targeted as a menace and a threat to society; now the media should champion the cause of those who undergo persecution because of a quirk in the law. David Ryan, Keble College, Oxford [end]
