LETTERS

BILLINGS LIVED

Tim Redmond was right about the Mooney-Billings frame-up for the Preparedness Day bombing in 1916 [Editor's Notes, 2/22/06]. Both were sent to prison on false evidence — one witness was 200 miles away from San Francisco, and there was a picture of Billings, eight minutes before the bombing, 2 miles away (a street clock showed the time). But they both remained in jail until a Democratic governor, Cuthbert Olson — the first Democrat elected in 44 years — set them free in 1939. But Redmond was wrong in stating that Billings died in prison. He did not. He was released with Mooney. Billings went on to become president of the watchmakers union, was active in progressive causes, was pardoned in 1961, and died in 1972. Tom Mooney, on the other hand, had his health destroyed in prison. He died in 1942, three years after his release.

Paul Glusman

Berkeley

THE ETHICAL BUTTERWORTH

I read both the editorial ["Law Enforcement Falls Apart"] and the hit piece ["Meet the New Boss"] on Assistant District Attorney George Butterworth published in your Feb. 15, 2006, edition.

I am a criminal defense attorney. As a state bar–certified specialist in criminal law, I have been the lead attorney in over 100 jury trials in San Francisco alone and have handled hundreds of other criminal cases in this city. In many of these cases the people were represented by Butterworth.

I could never have more confidence in the ethics of an adversary than I do with Butterworth. To suggest that Butterworth intentionally erased a tape before turning it over to opposing counsel would be laughable were the allegation less serious. This tape was "apparently" not handed over to the defense team at the time of trial; the tape "perhaps" refers to a reward offered to a witness; it is "unclear" how much blame lies with Butterworth; the situation is "troubling" to the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the civil suit. Those are the words in the article that pretends to be journalism.

Ira H. Barg

San Francisco

SORRY, WE'VE SEEN WAY WORSE

It's bad enough that BART trains routinely smell of urine and have enough newspapers and banana peels inside to open a small market (not to mention that now I'm paying more for my ride each day from Daly City to Oakland). Today I saw the most disgusting thing riding to work that I've seen in a long time: a grown man clipping his fingernails with a clipper next to me. This is actually not the first time I've seen this; a few weeks ago, I saw a grown woman clipping her fingernails with a clipper.

Both individuals were oblivious to how disgusting their acts were. They were smiling and clipping away, each clip more infuriating and annoying than the one previous. This man today clipped his fingernails for the entire time the train popped out of the Transbay Tube, through West Oakland and then to his Oakland City Hall stop. He left his used fingernail clippings on the floor behind him.

Look, I'm not a morning person, and I know we're all in a rush to get to work or school in the morning. But if you're that pressed for time that you can't clip your nails the night before at home, then at least pick up your clippings off the floor once you're done or use a clipper that collects the droppings.

Christine Lias

San Francisco

FOR THE RECORD

Last week's Editor's Notes gave the wrong call letters for radio station KQKE-FM.

The Lit conversation between William T. Vollmann and Kate Braverman that ran in last week's paper can be read in its entirety at www.katebraverman.com/interview.

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