The Supreme Court Vents  Column by Emmett Harris.  Exclusive to
STR  In a surprise move following their recent decision to hear
the case of Salinas vs. Texas later this year, the Supreme Court
has opted to address a silent, but deadly serious issue that has
been percolating for some time. While the Salinas case will
determine whether the refusal to answer police questions or to
show sufficient verbal shock at police accusations can be used
as evidence of guilt in court, essentially relegating the 5th
Amendment to the graveyard where most of its Bill of Rights
brethren have been interred, the other issue is sure to go down
in the anals of American jurisprudence. This issue, of course,
is whether silence can used as proof of guilt in the area of
flatulence.  Now, you may think the people in black robes have
no business weighing in on such a topic, but the Court, through
cases ranging from Salinas to Martin, has shown that nothing is
off limits. No topic is too great or too trivial for their brand
of wisdom. As