Letters to the Editor

Reading the first paragraph of Mike McKee’s news story about [the May 15] Supreme Court ruling on gay and lesbian marriage, I was shocked to read McKee’s statement that the Supreme Court “gave gays and lesbians the right to marry” ["Gay marriages blessed"]. The court did not “give” any rights to anyone – as I believe the quote from Chief Justice [Ronald] George that followed makes clear. The court acknowledged that the state Constitution contains the right for all to marry and gives no justification for barring citizens from that right – as has been done for many years.

I recognize that there is a large gray area between description and interpretation in news writing. While perhaps not intentionally, Mike McKee stepped into a clear black area when describing the justice’s historic decision. Language matters, as the court’s opinion itself recognizes when acknowledging discussing the use of the word “marriage.” There are those who believe that the court did indeed “give” or “grant” a new right. But that’s not what the court believes it did, and it’s not what the thousands of gay and lesbian couples who have been barred from marrying for years believe it did either. I ask that your editorial staff be more mindful of the language it uses to describe the facts behind this historic decision when writing a news story.

Sarah Murray
San Francisco

An obvious case of COA infringement

I enjoyed [Lawrence J. Siskind's commentary], but I wanted to point out that solution No. 3 would not work because the Macedonian [coat of arms] is itself an obvious infringement of the Romanian Socialist COA (see image on right) ["Macedonia needs trademark lawyers"]. So any attempt to use the COA as part of the Macedonia franchise would certainly be opposed by the Romanians. Arguably the mark has been abandoned, but it was in use for four decades from about 1948 to about 1989, and you never know when Romania may decide to return to Socialism and reclaim its mark. Certainly I don’t think Romanian lawyers would be foolish enough to give up the claim without a fight – or the payment of royalties.

Alex Kozinski
Pasadena