
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 16, 1990                   TAG: 9003162727
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NATION LOSING IDEALS, BECOMING SPOILED

THE OLDER our nation becomes, the more spoiled we become. We can do anything we want. There is nothing to hold dear anymore. And now we can burn or even spit on our flag. Hurrah for America!

The Constitution has been interpreted and reinterpreted until people can get away with anything. The rights of the criminals take precedence over the rights of the law-abiding citizens.

Lawyers and judges find laws their challenge: not to rid society of crime, to protect the criminal. The fact that a person is definitely guilty has nothing to do with it. How can a person be overwhelmed with a 10-to-20-year sentence when he knows he can get out in a year with good behavior? And why not plead guilty when lawyers can plea-bargain for a lesser sentence to save the good old court some time, limiting their sentences to a slap on the wrist?

Sending criminals to prison is comparable to sending spoiled children to their rooms. Many have a better existence there than they do when they are out. What's there to dread? Where's the punishment to fit the crime?

We are losing our ideals, our patriotism and our moral outrage. The guidelines that our forefathers fought and bled and died for become more meaningless every day. Our flag stands for America. What does America stand for?\ DANA ACORD\ ELLISTON

by CNB