Letters to the Editor | Jan. 29, 2024

That the father and son owners of Tony Luke’s have been sentenced to 20 months in prison for decades-long tax evasion is fair. But how does the equally long tax evasion by Donald Trump’s company compare? What — other than notoriety — keeps him from a similar fate? Not paying taxes is, as he himself has said, a smart move for a successful businessman. If the little guys serving up sandwiches can be jailed for tax evasion, so should an admitted fraudster.

Michael M. Burns, Cherry Hill

That cops lie to convict innocent people is what Common Pleas Court Judge Lucretia Clemons must decide in the trial of retired detectives Martin Devlin, Manuel Santiago, and Frank Jastrzembski. The case against these men must go before a jury because it is important for us to recognize that there are many people in jail because of police misconduct.

In 1993, Anthony Wright was arrested for the murder and rape of Louise Talley. Detectives Devlin and Santiago interrogated Wright for many hours to confess to the murder. After he refused, they allegedly wrote up a confession and told him to sign it. After he again refused, Wright said they threatened to rip his eyes out. Wright spent 25 years in jail until DNA evidence unraveled the prosecution’s original theory of the crime. District Attorney Seth Williams retried Wright in 2016 using the false confession as evidence.

When Larry Krasner became DA, he convened a grand jury that found the detectives had lied to the court. Now, as the case goes to trial, the lawyer for the police said the evidence presented to the grand jury was unethical. Judge Clemons must not let this objection prevail. According to a civil suit that awarded Wright $9.85 million, police misconduct stemmed from deliberate indifference by the city toward homicide detectives who were so desperate to manage heavy caseloads and get convictions that they routinely coerced false confessions. We should be outraged by a criminal justice system that prizes convictions over justice.

Gerry Givnish, Philadelphia

In The Inquirer’s recent reporting on gun laws, I saw that a measure making it mandatory to report lost or stolen guns was blocked. While I believe the term common sense is overused, that’s exactly what this is. If that can’t be passed, let’s try this: If a lost or stolen gun is used to commit a crime, the former owner who failed to report it is charged with that crime or as an accomplice. This is akin to a straw purchase, which is already illegal. This is also like charging a getaway driver with murder if a murder is committed during the crime in which the driver is involved. These laws are already in place. Let’s see if we can’t add one more.

Steve Schwartz, Springfield

It has been said that you cannot put a price on the love and loyalty provided by our pets. But many households have to do the math to project if pet ownership is even conceivable as part of the family budget. A 35-pound bag of dog food for Crazy Daisy, a 4-year-old, 50-pound terrier mix increased $30 in one month (almost doubled in less than two years). It is now $78 and lasts about six weeks. Transitioning to a less costly version is in process. We just had her annual veterinarian appointment with vaccines: $227. There was an additional $85 for a three-month supply of tablets for heartworms and fleas. It was heartbreaking recently to hear about pet shelters filling up again and having the reason primarily attributed to people going back to offices.

There must have been more than a few instances of heartbroken families who had to make the painful choice to surrender their beloved pets because it became too expensive — even if their pet was healthy. If a pet has an illness, injury, or requires more than semiannual vet visits and/or extensive grooming, those are supplemental and now even more costly expenses. In the meantime, pet owners will continue to try and figure out how to hold onto the Daisies and pussycats that mean so much to us and our health. Pets are exactly what our families need to help manage this country’s vitriol, inflation, and upheaval. It is priceless what a walk outside with a cherished doggy can do — but for how long?

Mary Kay Owen, Downingtown

Regarding the discussion of more aid to Israel, what we can be sure of is that sending more military aid anywhere will result in more death and destruction — more suffering and deprivation, both physical and emotional, more hardening of outlook, more rage, more violation of our planet. It cannot address the underlying issues, which must be resolved. Anything we try to do for resolution will be highly challenging, but I think we should promote a one-state solution: one nondenominational state where all residents are citizens, and all citizens have the same rights. How else can people live together?

Judith Inskeep, Gwynedd

As we enter election season, and as news media rely so heavily on poll results, isn’t it time to establish even a modest effort to measure poll quality? No poll data should be published without information regarding how the questions were asked (i.e., email, phone, phone message), the number of people polled (and was this number determined in advance), how many people did not answer all the questions, and the dates of the first and last poll responses obtained. Without such accompanying information, for example, a clinical trial is worthless and would allow no conclusions. So should it be with political polls. The information I would like to see is, of course, known to the polling organizations and could easily be included with any published poll. The Inquirer could take the lead and help readers never again see an opening sentence like, “A recent poll indicates trouble ahead for …” It is way past time to ask for some broadly applicable standards.

Stephen Roth, Gladwyne

With 2024 underway, President Joe Biden has turned his focus to key election hot spots. It was good to see him touring the Keystone State recently, but the president bypassed a critical industry during his visit: American natural gas and oil. In Pennsylvania, the natural gas and oil industry are true powerhouses of economic development. The industry supports jobs for more than 423,000 Pennsylvanians, equivalent to 5.6% of state employment, and has an economic impact of $75 billion. This includes direct employees, supply-chain workers, and other jobs throughout the economy.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration has opposed U.S. natural gas and oil with policies that limit consumer choice and jeopardize future American energy leadership. But there is still time for him to change course and build on the current streak of history-making U.S. energy production. Whether it’s opening federal lands to development, green-lighting natural gas projects, or cajoling Congress to tackle permitting reform this year, Biden could propel American energy leadership. Meeting with Pennsylvania natural gas and oil workers on his next trip here would be a great start.

Stephanie Catarino Wissman, executive director, American Petroleum Institute Pennsylvania, Harrisburg

I generally enjoy reading Jonathan Zimmerman’s columns in The Inquirer, and laud his efforts to encourage civil discourse, especially on college campuses. Unfortunately, his recent effort misses the boat. In trying to be evenhanded, Zimmerman equates the words and actions of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) with those of Jewish students who advocate for Israel. Across the country, Jewish students have been willing to engage in constructive dialogues with those who support efforts for a Palestinian state. They urge universities to “shut down chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine” because of the actions taken by that group.

SJP members consistently disrupt speakers with whom they disagree and harass and bully students who are pro-Israel. They loudly cheered the Hamas massacres of Oct. 7, and call for the elimination of the world’s only Jewish state. Further, SJP and its allies distort history by denying the Jewish people’s connection to the land of Israel. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” The story here is not about competing narratives, but about the concerted efforts of one side to deny the very legitimacy of a sovereign nation and to stifle any dissent from their radical position.

Richard Lowe, Oreland

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