A letter from Jon Inskeep (page 3) to the Baltimore Sun
in reply to an editorial about the Supreme Court
July 2, 2001


Dear Editor:

Although I welcome your front page story on the growing controversy surrounding the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore, your columnist makes several serious errors which cannot go unchallenged.

Mr. Healy says that the public doesn't care about the decision, without citing any poll or other data to support his claim. His apparent source? He read it in his own column. If he had made even a modest attempt to determine true public opinion he would know that citizens everywhere remain disgusted by the blatantly political power grab exercised by the Court.

Mr. Healy goes on to say that the precedent set by the decision is insignificant because it only applies to this one case. Wrong again. If the decision is allowed to stand, all future Courts retain the right to appoint the President of the United States, in open violation of the US Constitution.

Finally, Mr. Healy ignores the overwhelming condemnation of the case by lawyers, laymen, authors, and citizens, and instead cites Richard A. Posner as the "most influential" lawyer in the country, ignoring two facts: Judge Posner is an apologist for the extreme right; and, even he rejected outright the majority opinion of the Court and only attempts to rationalize the decision based on narrow grounds supported by only three of the Justices. Even Robert Bork, rejected by the US Senate for his extreme right positions, condemned the decision!

Buried well down in the article Mr. Healy finally acknowledges that 673 law professors of all political persuasions have publicly and repeatedly condemned the decision. The truth is, virtually no one can or will publicly defend this horrific assault on democracy.

In the words of the senior Mr. Bush spoken in a different context: "This will not stand!"

Jonathan Inskeep
Crofton, MD

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