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Conflict in the Court

Your cover story suggested that the Supreme Court has become increasingly conservative and increasingly irrelevant [Oct. 22]. The first proposition is true; the second is not. The decision to strike down voluntary school integration plans in Seattle and Louisville, Ky., would have been significant even if it had affected only a handful of students in those two cities, as your article suggests. In fact, the decision established a new set of constitutional rules that are likely to accelerate the resegregation of urban school districts across the country. Similarly, the decision that Congress could prohibit an abortion procedure that it finds offensive, despite health risks to the woman, is already being used to justify additional abortion restrictions that deprive women of their equal rights and reproductive freedom. This year promises more of the same. Among other cases, the court will decide whether the Bush Administration can continue to imprison hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay for years without any meaningful judicial review, whether voter-ID laws are constitutional and whether we can execute human beings using a lethal-injection protocol that we do not allow for our household pets. These are not small questions. The answers will help determine our standing in the world, the functioning of our democracy and what the Supreme Court has described as "evolving standards of decency." In short, the Supreme Court still matters, and all Americans should be concerned with how it goes about its business.

Steven R. Shapiro, Legal Director American Civil Liberties Union NEW YORK CITY

The Supreme Court still matters. The difference is that it matters for the cases it refuses to hear, not for the predictably partisan decisions it hands down. As Chief Justice Roberts' history makes all too plain, his main interest is in restricting access to the court, effectively removing the judiciary as a resource for those injured by the powerful. This is a radical revolution indeed.

Jon Sherman, CHICAGO

As long as the Supreme Court Continues to rubber-stamp all the misdeeds, misbehavings and misdemeanors of the current Administration, it will surely remain irrelevant.

Jean-Jacques Lasne, SAN FRANCISCO

David Von Drehle's article was provocative and interesting, but I believe it is erroneous to assert that "the court's ideology is playing a dwindling role in the lives of Americans." This observation ignores the significant role the Roberts Court has assumed in shaping federal antitrust, labor and securities law. Big Business may be benefiting from the court's rulings at the expense of consumers, workers and small investors. Decisions on pocketbook issues may not make headlines or create strong emotional reactions, but they may ultimately have a greater impact on the average American than the more high-profile cases to which Von Drehle referred. Thus, I must respectfully dissent.

Daniel E. Lazaroff, Professor Loyola Law School, LOS ANGELES

Writer Von Drehle seemed to imply that the court does not matter because the number of cases heard and U.S. citizens affected has dropped dramatically since the appointment of Roberts. The Supreme Court is part of the U.S. Constitution's checks and balances. It does not have a mandate to legislate or impact as many citizens as possible.

Thomas R. Polacek, PHOENIXVILLE, PA.

The Marines Respond

Mark Thompson's cover story "Flying Shame" unfortunately served up a one-sided, sensationalistic view of the V-22 Osprey program, full of inaccuracies and misleading to TIME's readers [Oct. 8]. The Osprey has taken a long time to move from a concept to extensive developmental and operational testing and now to its first combat deployment. It is sad that TIME's story failed to include the fact that in the past six years, the V-22 program had the most extensive technical and programmatic review in the history of aircraft. The cover and the story, which included dated material, were neither balanced nor accurate. The first V-22 combat squadron deployed last month for operations in Iraq. The V-22 aircraft have been rigorously tested and found to be ready and relevant for combat operations. The Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft will provide our forces with unprecedented increases in speed and range as well as critically needed troop-lift, medevac and cargo capabilities. We have no doubts that the Marine Corps' V-22 Ospreys are ready for their most important mission: carrying our most precious assets--Marines and sailors--into combat.

General Robert Magnus, Assistant Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps, WASHINGTON

An Okie's Choice for '08

Joe Klein pointed out that Merle Haggard sees right through the Republican strategy of frightening us into voting Republican [Oct. 22]. This fearmongering seems to work on the Republican Party's base of white males. Their continued support for the Iraq war is based on the same fear, even though Bush himself has admitted that Iraq had no connection with 9/11.

Melvin Shapiro, SAN DIEGO

You're Getting Warmer

Danish statistician Bjorn Lomborg's claim that global warming will only cause us to wear "slightly fewer layers of winter clothes" is not credible [Oct. 15]. My new book, Global Warming and Agriculture, uses averages from six climate models and two schools of agricultural-impact models to estimate that in the absence of action, by the 2080s global warming will reduce agricultural productivity 30% to 40% in India, 15% to 25% in Africa and Latin America and 20% to 35% in the southern U.S. and Mexico. And if we consider the longer-term catastrophic risks from the runaway greenhouse effect, shutdown of the Gulf Stream and collapse of the West Antarctic ice shelf, curbing carbon dioxide emissions is a small price to pay for insurance, even though adaptation will also be needed.

William R. Cline, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics and Center for Global Development WASHINGTON

Phony Friendship

Joel Stein's "You Are Not My Friend" was a hilariously true portrait of "friendship" online [Oct. 15]. Facebook can be a fun diversion, but it mainly streams self-important updates from people who are not true friends and makes users more concerned with monitoring others' lives than with living their own.

Elizabeth Findell STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLO. MAILBAG

Biggest Mail getter: The Supreme Court

57% The court still matters -- it continues to decide cases that ultimately affect every American 43% The court no longer matters -- its deadlocked Justices have made it irrelevant