‘Diatribe’ on Grand Jury
The scurrilous outburst in a letter of Aug. 5 aimed at the 1989-90 Ventura County Grand Jury, apparently written by labor organizer Barry Hammitt, can actually have one beneficial result.
People may be stimulated to read the 1989-90 grand jury reports, especially the report on substance abuse, which seemed to be the major cause of this peculiar outburst. Readers should be making their own judgments about significant matters discussed in the reports in order to form their own opinions.
As with any institution, even the 1,000-year-old grand jury system, review and reanalysis are always essential and vital to a democracy. I may, with apologies, refer to my own analysis, which was published in the July 11 issue of the News Chronicle of Thousand Oaks.
Constructive change, however, is always the result of quiet reflection and civilized exchanges of views, not of explosive diatribes.
L. EDWARD SHUCK
Thousand Oaks
Shuck was foreman pro tem of the 1989-90 Ventura County Grand Jury and chairman of its Health, Education and Welfare Committee.
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