Gaming the System
July 18, 2005
To the Editor:
I was the attorney for Gary Kiss and find it interesting that Peter Harris, a meth dealer who cooperated with the government and set up his clients, walked out of court at sentencing. (“Meth Informant Spared Long Term,” by Duncan Osborne, July 14-20).
Harris’ victims, who are clearly addicted users of meth like my client, refused to be part of this dirty deal (“downstream cooperating,” where a more culpable defendant testifies against lesser-involved defendants). Gary Kiss is serving an absurdly long period of time. His sentencing judge did depart substantially from the guideline sentence because of Mr. Kiss’s extraordinary recovery from addiction.
Nevertheless, the lesson of this case is that the “war on drugs” is a perversion of justice.
Gerald M. Labush
Attorney
Manhattan
Tears for the Piers
July 16, 2005
To the Editor:
Regarding Carl Whitman, Jr.’s letter to the editor, “No Piers on Pride Sunday,” (Jul 7-13), what was once a haven of abandoned warehouses, rotting piers and parking lots that were transformed into gay cruising areas at night now resembles a Walt Disneyesque fashion show catering to those who look like they might feel more at home on Lincoln Road in South Beach. Perhaps that is why activism of any kind is seen as being dangerously out of place in this formerly glorious oasis.
Allen Ginsberg, Abby Hoffman and Bella Abzug must be turning over in their graves because of all this, not to mention the $4 million condominiums selling like hot cakes on a Sunday morning in North Carolina in the immediate vicinity.
Pete. A. deMatteo
Jersey City
WRITE US!
Please address letters to the editor to
Or fax them to 646-452-2501
Or mail them to 487 Greenwich St., Suite 6A, New York City 10013.
Please include your phone number, for confirmation purposes only. The editors reserve the right to edit all letters due to space constraints.
gaycitynews.com
