ON TWO HIGH-PROFILE CASES, THE JURIES GET IT RIGHT

Two recent jury verdicts -- those against four Muslim extremists, who bombed the World Trade Center in New York, and Michael F. Griffin, who shot to death abortion doctor David Gunn in Pensacola, Fla. -- serve warning that acts of terrorism are not being tolerated in the United States.

As they should, all will pay greatly for their crimes. The four bombers, who killed six people, injured 1,000, and caused untold millions of dollars in damage, are expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole when they go before a judge in New York on May 4. Griffin got a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years for putting three bullets into the body of Gunn during a demonstration outside the Pensacola Women's Medical Services clinic.

Sadly, both cases are a result of twisted minds wreaking violence on society in an effort to bring attention to their political causes.

Who would have thought that the Trade Center bombing, described as the worst act of terrorism on American soil, could have been carried out as easily as it was? Four amateurs put together a bomb from commercially produced materials for under $400 and secreted it into a basement garage, where it went off.

It got the attention of New York law enforcement, which broke up a cell that was planning additional bombings around July 4 at the Hudson River tunnels, the Federal Building in lower Manhattan, and other places. Now, New York police more often are using bomb-sniffing dogs to survey landmarks like the Empire State Building.

Violence around abortion clinics is nothing new, although in recent years some anti-abortion groups have accelerated targeting clinics with violence. Abortion-rights groups claim that more than 5,000 clinic blockades or disruptions have occurred and almost 1,500 acts of bombing, arson, acid attacks, death threats, assaults and shootings have been directed against providers. The worst, of course, was the murder of Dr. Gunn.

Like so many others who commit crimes, killer Griffin felt compelled to explain why he killed Gunn -- more specifically, what led him to do it. He didn't plea, as so many do in the courts today, that he was a victim of any form of abuse by his parents or others. Instead, he used the excuse that he had been brainwashed by leaders of the local Rescue America organization. The use of videos, ceremonial funerals for fetuses, prayers sessions and the like drove him to the murder, he said.

To their credit, the jury in the case didn't buy it.

Let's hope the penalties imposed on the criminals in these two tragic cases make those who could be led to violence to demonstrate their political causes think again before doing anything foolish.

Everyone has a right to believe as they wish and to peacefully oppose those who disagree with them. But no one has the right to impose harm upon others simply because of disagreements. That's why we have courts, and that's why the juries in these two instances ruled as they did.