A disgraceful law

The Trevor Law Group is becoming a scapegoat for the badly flawed §17200 statute it exploits. The abusive, extortionate litigation practices used by the Trevor Law Group - which I condemn - are, sadly, different only in degree, not in kind, from the 17200 litigation threatened and pursued every day by other attorneys all across the state.

The statute, as it is being interpreted and applied, is a disgrace that is literally choking the life out of California's struggling economy and enriching a small group of plaintiffs' lawyers in the process.

California's legal system will continue to be a national embarrassment, and its business climate will suffer, until 17200 lawsuits are brought to heel, or the statute is repealed altogether. Unfortunately, putting the Trevor Law Group out of commission will not solve this mess.

Mark S. Pulliam
San Diego

Socialism in action

In his recent letter (April), Robert Wood suggests sending "socialist" State Sen. Sheila Kuehl to France for authoring the Paid Family Care Leave Act. I have a better idea. Why doesn't Mr. Wood go to Iraq where he can participate in the Pentagon-led Iraqi democracy?

Ray McKown
Los Angeles

Judges' moral convictions

Jeff Bleich and Nat Hentoff (March Opinion) dealt with the question of judge association with the Boy Scouts. Another question in this de-bate also needs to be addressed: can a judge with personal moral convictions against homosexuality be objective in trying a case where one of the parties is a known homosexual?

If the answer is "no," there is not a single qualified judge sitting on the bench in California. If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that most of us, if not all of us, have personal moral convictions about different issues, e.g., child abuse or de-struction of the environment. But, most of us who have such convictions would not argue that a judge having such personal moral objections is necessarily prejudiced and unqualified to preside over a trial involving those issues. The question is not what the judge's personal moral convictions are, but rather whether the judge can objectively interpret the law and apply it to admissible evidence

Most, if not all, members of society would argue that society can not function if its members do not have personal moral convictions. Our judicial system must embrace this fact if it is to remain legitimate in the eyes of society.

Jacob Lee Ingvalson
Frazee, Minn.