Last Sunday, there was a thoughtful piece in the Forum section by Ursula Potter on the necessity of due process. I thank her for this piece, and urge others to read it.

Her grief, as mine, is with the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which puts aside Constitutional guarantees of due process. These date from the signing of Magna Carta in 1215.

I had thought we might celebrate the 800th anniversary of the principle of habeas corpus in three years time, but the NDAA provisions put that prospect aside. Rather, the language in the NDAA paves the road to fascism, with echoes of Nazi Germany in the late 1930s.

This is a road better not taken.

I have written to our senators and U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), urging them to support the Due Process Guarantee Act to undo the harm of the unconstitutional NDAA language.

Again, thank you very much Ursula Potter.

John Williford, Richland