Letter condemning the SPLC is misguided

Ed Dolan's Aug. 17 letter implies that the so-called “sovereign citizens” who “declare themselves above state and federal laws ... don't register births, carry driver's licenses, or recognize the court system” are rather like the Amish. Of course, none of it is true of the Amish, and they also regularly pay their bills and taxes.

Dolan goes on to say that the Southern Poverty Law Center, in calling attention to the threats posed by such sovereign citizens, has followed an “obvious and timeworn pattern” having previously deemed “Bible-believers, gun owners, constitutionalists, and home-schoolers, all enemies of the State.” This is just hogwash.

The SPLC, of which I've been a member for more than 25 years, has consistently called attention to those who advocate and use violence to suppress the rights of others or for their own misguided political ends.

In hard times, many people are drawn to these movements in desperation, having lost jobs and homes, or being overwhelmed in debt. I don't know if Mr. Dolan thinks we've reached the point where people can disobey laws or repudiate their debts and taxes. If so, he should be more explicit.

Otherwise, I hope he'll agree: People who shoot cops or refuse to pay taxes belong in prison.

Jim Walters

Iowa City