Protected speech. (Letters to the Editor).

I agreed wholeheartedly with "Bread and Circuses" by Steve Bonta until I came to the words: "This is why inane claims seeking to elevate pornographic pictures and obscene song lyrics to the level of First Amendment-protected 'free speech' are so widely accepted" (THE NEW AMERICAN, February 10th issue).

Does Mr. Bonta think that criminalization of vice is a solution to today's problems? What nonsense. These things are, and ought to be, within the realm of personal choice. We do, of course, need to return to more thinking and less mindless stimulation, but such changes must be motivated from within, not enforced from without by brutal government.

JOHN A. DELAUBENFELS

Duluth, Georgia

Steve Bonta responds: Regarding the legality of obscene song lyrics, pornography, and other offensive media, two issues need to be considered. The first is the relationship, if any, between the First Amendment and such activities. The Founders made it very clear that the Bill of Rights applied to the federal government alone. In particular, the First Amendment begins with the words "Congress shall make no law Therefore, regardless of how expansively one chooses to interpret the phrase "free speech," the clause clearly applies to ...