Rejection of Rose Bird

Future justices would do well to remember a few common-sense lessons of Nov. 4. First, the electorate is fair-minded and has a long memory. Second, Californians have every right to expect that approved initiatives become law. Third, judicial critics are not necessarily an unwashed mob of wild-eyed Archie Bunkers waving bloody shirts of death-penalty reversals. Last, there are obvious differences between judicial independence and judicial tyranny, and justices that attempt to sandbag voters with pontifical definitions of these terms eventually find themselves making career changes.

MICHAEL A. SCOTT

Glendora