At Least James Wedick Can Sleep at Night

It is one of the strengths of our system that an insider such as James Wedick can reach deep into his own moral convictions and stand up to challenge a leadership that is bent on punishing Muslim Americans (“The Agent Who Might Have Saved Hamid Hayat,” by Mark Arax, May 28).

The Lodi trial and the details of the Hayat case provide plenty of evidence that the plebian father and son team charged with “terrorism” were indeed hapless, uneducated and not very sophisticated. They might have had a different perspective on things, but so does the Ku Klux Klan membership. We don’t send their younger members to jail for as many as 39 years.

I have no sympathy for terrorists, but I do feel that the unique freedoms America offers should not be compromised such that the moral character of the nation is eroded. Hats off to James Wedick for being true to his convictions. At least he can sleep easily at night knowing that he did the right thing. I can’t say that the prosecution in this case can do the same.

Syed Hussaini

Anaheim Hills

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I had assumed the draconian methods used to extract false confessions that resulted in death or imprisonment were things of the past--used by despotic regimes such as the KGB, the Red Guard and special units of the Afrikaner police. Like poison mushrooms sprouting after a heavy rain, they have reappeared in our own backyard in the form of the State Department and the FBI. Welcome back, comrades!

Gene Garcia

Los Angeles