The Toledo Blade ran a story titled "Radicals of the '60s, '70s change with the times" on October 9, 2008, which got some hate mail that I found objectionable. I posted the following response:
If you believe in the theory of our justice system, as I do, then ex-offenders have already been justly punished for their crimes and hopefully are rehabilitated. It is our job as a just society, to help ex-offenders be constructive members of our society. That means working and living together with them. If they weren’t convicted (like Bill Ayers) then they must be assumed innocent. That’s our system. There are no throwaway people. Any other viewpoint is a self-fulfilling prophecy that causes recidivism.
As for Laura Whitehorn, not only has she paid her debt to society, the fact that after coming out of our unjust “justice system” she isn’t disillusioned, angry with society, and trained as a career criminal is a remarkable reflection of the quality of person she is. Instead, she’s been working tirelessly for the common good. That’s pretty uncommon. As an AIDS activist and author myself, I’m lucky to count Laura Whitehorn as a personal friend.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t support all the radical activists’ actions from the 60s and 70s, but calling them “terrorists” isn’t very helpful. My mother joked that she was a “terrorist” in World War II in Copenhagen making daily life as difficult as possible for the occupying Nazis. I’m sure Harriet Tubman would have also been called a “terrorist” for her civil disobedience with the Underground Railroad and for women's suffrage. I know that there are sociopaths out there, but these folks certainly aren’t sociopaths. Their track records speaks for themselves. There is a lot wrong with our world, and we need all the help we can get to make things better. I too support Barack Obama for President, because the alternative for me is unthinkable.
-- Mark de Solla Price, New York, NY