The criminals could be relied upon to boast about their criminal activity in their own voice, discussing how they committed or intended to commit a crime.
Mr. Dolan's article also omits the many ways that law enforcement officers add to the recorded evidence.
But informants' testimony and voice recordings are buttressed by additional witnesses and law enforcement interviews of the criminal targets. Other evidence can include information obtained by surveillance and searches of the target of the investigation's person, home and other locations.
I agree the informant is critical in obtaining the criminal target's incriminating conversations. But the recordings of the conversations are generally more important evidence than the informant's testimony.
Dan Dreibelbis
Ellicott City
Treaty underscores religious neutrality
The Sun's editorial notebook "Got religion?" (March 1) mentioned that Sen. John McCain, now in his fourth six-year term as a U.S. senator, is among the 55 percent of Americans who believe that "the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation," according to a poll.
As the editorial notes, the Constitution does no such thing.
The pertinent language of the Constitution, in the First Amendment, states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
In 1797, the Senate unanimously ratified, and President John Adams endorsed, the Treaty of Tripoli.
Consistent with the First Amendment, Article 11 of that treaty explicitly stated that "the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."
That is critical because Article VI of the Constitution specifies that "all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land."
To my knowledge, no treaty, constitutional amendment or legislation has been enacted subsequently that repeals, contravenes or modifies Article 11 of that treaty.
David Greenwald
Westminster
Marriage bill boosts tradition of fairness
Maryland lawmakers are now considering the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act ("A new tack for gay rights," March 6).
This bill aims to balance the interests of our communities of faith with the rights of gays and lesbians.
