Court Security

The July 7 article about the new metal detectors at the L.A. County Courthouse indicated the security system was in response to one murder in 1995. So for the last four years (and countless years before 1995) tens of thousands people went in and out of the courthouse unscathed. Now, thousands of hours are being wasted as everyone stands in line to be screened.

I work at the San Bernardino County Courthouse, where the same system has been instituted. Judges don’t have to be screened, but everyone else does, including court clerks and attorneys who work in the courthouse. Every day the people who are hired by the county, presumably in positions of trust and confidence, are subjected to the humiliation of being treated as though they might any moment become dangerous lunatics. Yale law professor and 2nd Circuit Federal Judge Guido Calabresi and Philip Bobbitt wrote a book,”Tragic Choices,” in which they discuss the economic costs of certain choices. Isn’t it time we considered balancing real risks against the real costs of these security systems?

MAUREEN J. ARRIGO

Redlands