Defending terrorists should not disqualify attorneys for DOJ jobs
Re: “Eric Holder stonewalls Congress on terror lawyers,” Feb. 24
Attorney General Eric Holder’s insouciant treatment of Sen. Charles Grassley’s demands for information on Justice Department appointees who have represented alleged terrorists in court is appropriate because of a time-honored legal principle that attorneys don’t take cases — or clients — personally. Often, having barked at one another in court, they socialize and even play golf together afterward. If having a particular client were to somehow politically “disqualify” a lawyer from serving, it would undermine the notion that every client has a right to a fair trial by relegating some to second-tier representation by lawyers lacking any ambitions for a presidential appointment. So long as lawyers appointed to DOJ “understand that the U.S. government is their client,” their record of representation in court cases should not matter. If anything, having represented terrorists in court might give them insight into how terrorists think and make them better able to prepare future cases against them. There are many successful prosecutors who started out as criminal defense lawyers.
Dino Drudi
Alexandria
Not scary? Mexico is busy colonizing the U.S.
Re: “Illegal immigrants aren’t so scary,” Feb. 21
Has Steve Chapman gone totally mad? Illegal aliens in Montgomery County are linked to at least 13 murders. They have bankrupted California’s hospital system. They are not here “just to work,” as he implies. Chapman needs to review Article 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which requires the president to protect us from invasion. The truth is that Mexico is dumping its poor over our borders for convenience. However, they are still loyal Mexican citizens. This glut of criminal illegal immigration is making the United States a colony of the Mexican government. God help this nation when we have people like Chapman making political comments.
William Healy
Washington
Ignoring lawbreaking makes a mockery of government
Re: “Illegal immigrants aren’t so scary,” Feb. 21
As an American citizen by birth, I am expected to abide by the laws of this country. My government’s expectation that I do so is concrete; nothing in my education, social status, or ethnicity exempts me from obeying even the most minor law. I am very glad if most illegal immigrants are not breaking other laws besides the immigration law, as Steve Chapman asserts. But has he considered that government tolerance of illegal immigration gives illegal immigrants a status that he, as a legal citizen, can never have without retribution? Has he further considered that his posture is a slap in the face to those who came here legally? Or that having a law that can be flagrantly ignored makes a mockery of the government that made the law, opening up a Pandora’s box for the arbitrary breaking of other laws? In this current politically correct and oh-so-enlightened culture, can fair play and order-instilling common sense ever be allowed to balance compassion?
Angela McIntosh
Frederick, Md.
