Seeds of Doubt
The O.J. Simpson affair shows what can happen when our legal system allows justice to be blindfolded, gagged and bound by the strongest player in contemporary American jurisprudence: money [Cover Stories, Feb. 6]. And what are high-priced, celebrity defense attorneys paid to do? Establish that the charges against their clients are false? No. They are paid to lead juries to molehills of doubt and technicality and absurd objection, and to make them into mountains. ``Beyond a reasonable doubt'' becomes ``beyond a shadow of a doubt.''
John Sloan Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Your cover line ``Seeds of Doubt'' is right on the money. If O.J. is guilty, where are the blood-soaked clothes he would have been wearing? Where is the blood-soaked weapon? What are the contents of that mysterious brown envelope that very few know anything about? As a retired police officer, I think this whole thing smells of a well-conceived cover-up. O.J. is starting to appear less guilty day by day.
Charles A. Wells Mundelein, Illinois
Innocent people, especially those as well known as O.J. Simpson, do not run from the police. Nobody can ever forget O.J.'s attempt to escape with his passport and a bundle of money during the famous Night of the White Bronco. However, with so many African Americans on the jury, the worst that can happen to O.J. is a hung jury.
Domenico Bellizzi North Brunswick, New Jersey
The tragedy of the case is that the news media are presenting cheap entertainment as though it were hard news. If other news events received as much coverage, Americans might get educated enough to have serious discussions concerning issues. But as long as the Simpson case sells more newspapers than an issue like poverty in America, the media will continue to focus on O.J. For that crime, we are all guilty.
Rebecca Beno Alexandria, New Hampshire
Americans don't think about issues anymore. All I hear people discussing is O.J. and Ricki Lake. No one discusses the fact that our children are not ready for the 21st century, because no one cares.
Avery Harper Lithonia, Georgia AOL: CORAYH
The Simpson trial has reduced the humanistic principles and complex philosophy of American justice to blood sport. Television does its part, contributing instant replay, analysis and gladiatorial theme music. The print media join in, all of them reduced to tabloids in their feeding frenzy. This trial should be taking place in the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the resemblance to a Roman circus would be unmistakable and the masses could seal O.J.'s fate with a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
Rick Chatenever Kihei, Hawaii
The trial should be moved to the Pantages Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, with $25 daily admission charged. The money accrued from the sold-out performances of Shapiro, Cochran, Clark & Bailey would defray the high costs of the trial, and the move would place the proceedings in a proper venue for the spectacle the trial has become.
Christopher R. Morris Kingsport, Tennessee
Picking Up the Pieces