Hugh Grant

* British actor Hugh Grant is arrested for engaging in “lewd conduct” with a woman who was allegedly being paid (June 28). I assume that means the very same act with his girlfriend would have been legal. Why is “lewd conduct” a crime?

JENNIFER L. HUDSON

Bakersfield

* If the police would shift their efforts from pursuing the perpetrators of victimless crimes to pursuing the perpetrators of crimes where there are real victims, our streets would be much safer.

PAUL BLUMSTEIN

Rancho Palos Verdes

* Regarding the recent woes of Grant and the ensuing negative publicity, David Colden remarked, “America . . . has lost its etiquette.” I was somewhat skeptical when I read that this statement was offered by a Beverly Hills entertainment attorney. Nevertheless, I agreed with his basic premise.

Just when, exactly, did we lose our sense of decorum and our regard for others’ privacy? I have a theory. I believe that our manners began an inexorable slide when we started to address one and all by their first names. Teachers, clergy and even complete strangers lost their Mr.’s, Mrs.’s, and even Ms.’s.

Now it seems that Hugh and Divine have engaged in a peccadillo, and accounts of their Sunset Boulevard tryst are front-page news. I believe that their crime would not seem quite so up-close and personal had these two been thought of as Mr. Grant and Ms. Brown--a thought that would then be followed by yet another: “You know, this really isn’t any of my business.”

WENDY SCHRAMM

Vista