SF Chronicle, Letters to the Editor

I have had two letters to the editor published in the San Francisco Chronicle. Here they are:

THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
Privacy and Terrorism
Should state monitor e-mail?

Sunday, January 13, 2002

Editor -- You ask whether local and state law enforcement agencies, as proposed by Gov. Gray Davis, should have authority to monitor our e-mail and Internet use, in furtherance of the war on terrorism.

My answer: Yes, to the same degree that the public can monitor law enforcement officers' telephone calls, interrogation rooms and private conversations as part of the war on abuse of civil rights.

JOEL RIGGS
San Francisco

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June 5, 1995

CITY OF ANARCHY

Editor -- Two articles in your May 30 edition, taken together, remind me just why I love living in San Francisco, even though our town seems to be falling apart on every side: Margaret Chase Smith (obituary on page A3) once said that "if (the) choice (between anarchy and repression) has to be made, the (great center of the) American people . . . will choose repression."

However, as The Chronicle reports ("Assessor's Office Falters -- S. F. Losing Millions") on page 1, we San Franciscans elected Doris Ward to the office of assessor without opposition, where she has "loose controls," is "asleep at the switch," "has no experience whatsoever," and is "basically retired." I am reminded that I moved from Louisiana to the City by the Bay because this is one community that would rather choose anarchy.

JOEL RIGGS
San Francisco