Letter to the Editor

Good observation, but wrong analysis

To the editor:

Regarding his recent op-ed piece, "The Left hates inequality, not injustice." Dennis Prager makes only half of his case. He has an easy time showing how the Left establishment is worried about the little guy getting a fair shake. Then he does a great job of showing how we really shouldn't worry about the rich receiving different justice than the poor by citing the Bible. Everyone knows the Bible teaches us to not care about poor people, but thanks for the reminder.

Apparently, Mr. Prager stopped reading legal theory soon after the Bible was written. He and Judge Samuel Alito still cling to the same positivist notions that have been demonstrated to be far from the apolitical science they purport to be. Justice, in the positivist sense, is the rendering of verdicts through the correct interpretation of existing laws. There is no politics in this, say positivists, just science.

Well, they're wrong. Politicians make laws. So if laws make justice, then justice is inevitably political. No escape. Because power and money drive politics in this country to a large extent, the laws that politicians make tend to favor the rich and powerful. It is easy to see why the Left is so worried about equality as it relates to justice. The Left acknowledges that the fight for justice is inextricably linked to equality. So Mr. Prager is accurate in his observation concerning the Left's preoccupation with equality -- and completely deficient in his analysis of it.

KYLE BURK, Jackson