Patriot Act Ruling

U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins deserves our praise for ruling against the Patriot Act (Jan. 27), but the courts should also have ruled against the Justice Department’s refusal to release the names of people who were detained after Sept. 11. When justice is administered in secret, judges end up rubber-stamping arbitrary and capricious conduct by law enforcement agencies instead of being a check on the power of the executive branch.

Our attorney general has it backward; it is not civil libertarians who are helping the terrorists but rather officials who limit the liberties many terrorists hold in such contempt who are doing the terrorists’ work for them.

David Kerby

Studio City