Pubdate: Sun, 14 Apr 2002
Source: Racine Journal Times, The (WI)
Copyright: 2002, The Racine Journal Times
Contact:  http://www.journaltimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1659
Author: Ray Aldridge

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.
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