St. Petersburg Times Online: Opinion

Editorials
Sensitivity to juvenile criminals
While Gov. Jeb Bush made a reasonable decision in postponing for two years any consideration of Lionel Tate's request for clemency, he should not delay the even more important task of addressing Florida's treatment of juvenile offenders tried as adults. Bush decided Friday to reject a clemency request for Tate, the 14-year-old sentenced to life without possibility of parole for killing his 6-year-old neighbor when he was 12. In announcing his decision, Bush cited the longstanding practice of prisoners' serving at least two years before requesting clemency.

Freedom to burn our flag
" 'No,' I said. 'That proves that I am right. In my country we are not afraid of freedom, even if it means that people disagree with us.' The officer was on his feet in an instant, his face purple with rage. . . . I was astonished to see pain, compounded by fear, in his eyes. I have never forgotten that look, nor have I forgotten the satisfaction I felt at using his tool, the picture of the burning flag, against him."

Privacy first
Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings show that the justices favor privacy, barring law enforcement's use of high-tech devices without warrant.

Letters
Bush's selections show a disregard for education
Re: Bush names education leaders, June 7.

Perspective
Taking jobs, alienating customers
For weeks Americans have been told that the outsourcing of high-tech jobs is good for our economy. So said Greg Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a recent report signed by President Bush. So, too, writes Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in articles praising the rise of call centers in India used for everything from making airline reservations and reading medical X-ray films to providing tech support for American computer firms.

Philip Gailey: Democrats fall off campaign finance reform wagon
Well, what do you know. Soft money is back, and it's making hypocrites of all those Democrats who fervently championed the McCain-Feingold campaign reform law, not to mention those Republicans who objected to the law's restrictions on issue advocacy.

Bill Maxwell: Who is for the farm worker?
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is touting legislation to improve the lives of Florida's 300,000-plus farm workers, who endure institutional and systemic injustices each day in our fields and groves and their personal lives.

Robyn E. Blumner: For some defendants, an American gulag
In Bernard Malamud's masterpiece The Fixer, inmate Yakov Bok was subjected to psychological torture in a Soviet gulag through the humiliations of constant shackling and repeated strip searches.

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