Editorials
Court clings to bias against fathers
Equal protection under the law apparently doesn't extend to fathers. In a 5-to-4 split, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an immigration law that requires American fathers of out-of-wedlock children born abroad to foreign mothers to establish paternity before the child turns 18.

Constructive clemency
Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet deserve credit for making it easier for ex-felons to have their civil rights restored.

Misconceptions of 'closure'
We're seeking closure on the frequent misuse of the word "closure." According to Webster's New World Dictionary, closure means a finish, end or conclusion. It doesn't mean an end to grief or sorrow, and it doesn't mean vengeance or satisfaction. It simply means an end, and when Timothy McVeigh took his last breath at 8:14 a.m. EDT Monday, that was the closure to his life. Nothing more.

Letters
Let us cherish the gifts of our fathers
My father was 60 when I was born. Not only was he the oldest dad on the block, he was older than all of my friends' grandfathers. And he was also a blind man -- he lost his sight in his late 40s. After a few days of blurred vision, he woke up one morning completely blind. The doctors guessed it was something to do with the optic nerve, maybe vascular.

Tim Nickens
Education will define 2002 governor's race
What we don't know about Florida's embryonic governor's race dwarfs what we know.

Jon East
Zero tolerance produces a foolish educational consistency
An 11-year-old boy at Carwise Middle School in Palm Harbor got tired recently of a girl who was bullying him at lunch. Too embarrassed to tell his parents or teacher, he decided to retaliate his own way. So he took out a butter knife, of all things, and told her, "You'd better quit messing with me."

Robyn E. Blumner
Counterdemonstrators' brave protest deserves protection
I've only been a counterdemonstrator once and that was enough to know I don't have it in me.

Philip Gailey
Democrats get ready to take on the Bush brothers
Gov. Jeb Bush recently announced that he will seek a second term, and most Republicans expected the White House, where George W. Bush occupies the Oval Office, to deftly use its prestige and power to boost the governor's re-election effort -- or at least take care not to harm it.

Martin Dyckman
Orr's deserving recognition
TALLAHASSEE -- If Janet Reno really means to run for governor, there's probably no one on earth who could change her mind. I can think of one departed soul who might, but he'd probably say, "Janet, it's your call."