Healey's ads stir a history lesson and a family's ire

WHEN POSING whether Massachusetts should have a governor who has defended killers, I wonder whether Kerry Healey has forgotten a major history lesson from our very own state. In 1770, provoking public condemnation and resulting in a substantial loss of business, our very own John Adams decided to defend the accused British soldiers in the Boston Massacre. By placing the interests of justice and fairness ahead of political opportunism, Adams made a difficult decision to protect the rights of the accused and the fairness of the criminal process.

As we all remember, Adams was thereafter good enough to draft our very own state Constitution in 1780, guaranteeing the protection of the liberties that we often now take for granted. It is often the people who make unpopular decisions to defend those whom society despises that are best able to serve the interests of all of us. I do not believe anyone would say that Adams did not care about our independence when he defended the British soldiers; how can we therefore question Deval Patrick's ability to serve the Commonwealth by upholding the same virtues?

AARON AGULNEK
Sharon

WE FIND Kerry Healey's attack ads on television to be appalling, though we are resigned to the fact that this is how she wants to campaign. But we are incensed that her campaign is now making prerecorded calls to our home that accuse Deval Patrick of defending rapists. Our daughter picked up two of those calls this afternoon, and we wonder who else's children have been forced to listen to these repugnant recordings. Is this what we should expect from the candidate who claims to stand for ``values" and victims' rights? From our perspective as parents and voters, Healey has gone way over the line.

We hope that the Healey campaign reconsiders (and apologizes for) its telephone strategy. But to our mind the damage has been done. We believe that a campaign is a reflection of a candidate's character, and the person leading this kind of campaign is not someone we want as our governor.

ALAN MELCHIOR
SARAH PERSON
Medfield