CITY POLICE VIOLATED SANCTITY OF THE HOME

The war on drugs in Baltimore has been waged disproportionately against
black Americans, who are sent to prison on drug charges at more than 10
times the rate of white men - most of the time for nonviolent offenses.

Thus many blacks in Baltimore, or their close friends or relatives, have
encountered the police in this "zero tolerance" world. That may account for
the way City Solicitor Thurman W. Zollicoffer challenged the legality of
the police action ("O'Malley stands behind solicitor in row with police,"
May 2).

But here's an even more basic question: What were police officers doing in
a citizen's home without a warrant?

Our nation's founders, victims of abusive British searches themselves,
wrote the Bill of Rights to protect our "persons, houses, papers, and
effects" against "unreasonable searches and seizures." The Constitution
usually requires police officers to obtain a search warrant from a judge
before barging into our homes.

When Mr. Zollicoffer's sister demanded that the police leave her home, the
law required that they go.

If the police engaged in such heavy-handed tactics in a high-visibility
case, what do they do when they think no one is watching?

Susan Goering

Baltimore