Abortion Protests Don’t Fall Under RICO Act

Re “Justices Side With Antiabortion Groups,” Feb. 27: Both the antiabortion crowd and the abortion-rights crowd should rejoice in the strict interpretation by the Supreme Court in its ruling on the racketeering act known as RICO. The use of RICO for any conduct other than what it was meant to prevent opens all of us to abuse by the federal government or powerful plaintiffs.

As the assault on our liberties by Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and the Bush administration continues, we should celebrate this one small step to hold back the forces that are trying to destroy those liberties given to us by the Bill of Rights. We will have to wait and see whether the Supreme Court will also take a stand against holding citizens indefinitely without access to courts or counsel, monitoring library withdrawals and Internet communications, taping attorney-client communications and the many other frightening invasions of our rights.

Leon M. Salter

Los Angeles