Letters to the Editor
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she is a terrorist -- and terrorism is what?
Several letter writers have defined terrorism as trying to achieve political objectives through extra-legal means, i.e. commiting crimes to advance their socio-political cause. The flip side of that is the government trying to achive political objectives through the use of the criminal justice system. That is to say -- an arson is not just an arson, depending on the politics and motivations of the arsonist. Is this fair? Is this just? Do we want our criminal justice system to be used for such purposes? Do we want impeding traffic or disorderly conduct misdemeanors to carry 20yr sentences because the government wants to slap a political label of "terrorism" on the defendants?
I am not questioning her conviction; don't have a basis to opine on that. However, I do think that she should be treated as just another arsonist, who destroyed some amount of property.