Dispatches From the Drug War

Several months ago, the Chronicle Politics department received a letter, one of dozens we receive concerning drug war casualties in Texas prisons. We consider each of them, but can't always assign a reporter. This particular letter made an eloquent argument on behalf of prisoner Amy L. Smith. On a hunch that there was a story here that suggests any one of us might have ended up in the same spot Amy Smith now finds herself in, we assigned the story to one of our senior Politics writers -- who is also named Amy L. Smith. Prisoner Amy Smith invites correspondence, and can be reached by writing Amy Smith, ID No. 620118, 1401 State School Road, Gatesville, TX 76599. -- the Politics editors