EDITORIAL : REJECTED PLEA; ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO'S DEPARTMENT MADE THE RIGHT CALL BY NOT PLEADING OUT THE UNABOMBER CASE.

THEODORE Kaczynski is scheduled to go on trial next week after his last-minute attempt for a plea bargain was rejected by the Justice Department.

Kaczynski offered to plead guilty if he was spared the death penalty.

Many might wonder why the Justice Department didn't take the plea, considering how high-profile trials seem to strain the justice system and cost taxpayers millions.

Add to that the unknown factors, such as fickle juries, and it would seem prudent to guarantee the accused Unabomber is kept behind bars by accepting his guilty plea, even though the government appears to have an open-and-shut case.

In this instance, the Justice Department made the right decision. By not accepting Kaczynski's guilty plea, government lawyers can seek the death penalty if he is convicted of crafting bombs that killed two people a decade apart in Sacramento and maimed two others.

Still, the Justice Department is walking a thin political line.

Kaczynski's brother, David, makes a compelling case to drop the death penalty. David Kaczynski led authorities to his own brother as the probable Unabomber, partly because the government assured him they would examine his brother's probable mental illness before seeking to execute him.

Critics will argue that relatives and friends of other terrorists in the future might be dissuaded to come forward if they think they can't trust the department's word.

But it appears the department has sought all reasonable means to have Kaczynski examined to determine his mental competency.

Kaczynski refused to budge on the issue until last week, when his lawyers revealed in court he had offered to undergo limited tests and abandon the mental defect defense during the guilt-or-innocence phase if the government would agree to let him use schizophrenia as an argument to save his life during the penalty phase.

The government turned him down, saying his offer to have questions submitted to him through his lawyers was insufficient for a psychiatric analysis.

If the government allowed a man suspected of systematically terrorizing people around the country for nearly two decades to tie their hands and manipulate their case, the country would be outraged, and rightly so.

It is up to a judge to decide whether Kaczynski understands the charges against him and is mentally competent to stand trial. Plea bargains in this case are not appropriate.

And if Kaczynski stands trial and is found guilty, he should face execution.

Terrorism is a crime that can't be tolerated.