Judiciary Committee Hearings on Judge Robert Bork

As one who has said that democracy is both my shibboleth and mantra, I agree with Bork’s respect for “majority rule” in opposing the court’s “usurpation of legislative authority.”

Still a lynch mob is a majority--a thousand or two against one--but it is outside democracy in failing to respect the right of the minority; his right to a fair trial, regardless of the nature of the alleged crime.

Majority rule without minority rights is a split pea that will fall through the cracks.

Many persons have not bothered to read the whole of the Constitution and indeed parts are anachronistic, but the Bill of Rights, because it defines the individual’s protection from government power, is better known and more deeply revered.

MARK NICHOLS

Beverly Hills