Bill Lann Lee

In your Dec. 9 article about a possible recess appointment for Bill Lann Lee as assistant attorney general for civil rights, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno is quoted as saying, “Civil rights in America should not be about politics.”

It is significant that Reno has made no mention of Lee’s advocacy of a hard-line pro-racial preference agenda, which has put him at the extreme fringe of Proposition 209 opponents. For example, Lee is among the few who assert that it is illegal for the University of California to use SAT scores and grade point averages in evaluating applicants for admission.

Moreover, Reno totally ignored the serious issues concerning dubious tactics used by Lee in the Los Angeles Police Department gender discrimination case (Tipton-Whittingham vs. City of Los Angeles) when she asserted that “no one denies that Bill Lann Lee is more than qualified for the job.”

While it is undeniable that Lee has an impressive record, the fact that U.S. District Court Judge William Keller has criticized Lee’s efforts to circumvent normal judicial scrutiny of a proposed consent decree in the Tipton-Whittingham case simply has not been responded to in a straightforward way by the Clinton administration.

MANUEL S. KLAUSNER

Los Angeles

* Re “A Justifiable End Run,” editorial, Dec. 8: The Republicans never cease to amuse me. They have warned President Clinton that his “recess appointment” of Lee for the top civil rights post would “strain relations” with Congress! Let’s see if I have this straight. Lee, William Weld and I can’t remember how many others have had their appointments blocked, not by the full Senate, but by childish committee chairmen who often won’t even hold hearings on the nominee. Just who is straining relations here?

Republicans get very upset with Clinton for doing his job. Apparently they see this as setting a very bad precedent.

MIGUEL MUNOZ

Los Angeles