Operation Sundevil

Regarding the book review "The Hacker Crackdown," Dec. 16: Half of the review deals with the feds' crackdown, Operation Sundevil, on high school students suspected of computer crime. The reviewer reports, and seems to condone, the seizure of computers and discs without the due process of law. He states: "As an added benefit, Sundevil seized the instruments of these minors' crimes without forcing the federal bureaucracy to go through the formalities of trial and conviction."

Trials and conviction are not mere "formalities." They are at the heart of our democratic system of justice, our culture, our ethics; and our own constitution asserts the innocence of a suspect until proven guilty. Lanny Cotler, Willits, Calif.

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