Letters to the Editor | Sept. 3, 2025

As children return to classrooms, families face an alarming gap in protection. The updated 2025-26 vaccines — already approved by the Food and Drug Administration and available in many states — will not reach most Pennsylvanians for the time being.

This delay isn’t due to shortages, but to state rules requiring a doctor’s prescription before pharmacies can vaccinate, unlike in 34 other states. For working families, securing an appointment is a costly, time‑consuming hurdle — leaving students and staff unprotected just as cases rise.

Recent anti‑vaccine policies from the Trump administration have made matters worse. By narrowing federal recommendations and reshaping guidance from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit eligibility for healthy children and adults under 65, these changes have discouraged broad distribution and emboldened restrictive state rules.

On top of that, uncertainty over insurance reimbursement is slowing the rollout. Without clear federal recommendations, many insurers aren’t yet required to cover the vaccine for all under 65, leaving families unsure if they’ll face out‑of‑pocket costs — a hesitation that delays protection.

Vaccines remain one of our most effective tools to prevent severe illness, keep students in school, and protect vulnerable community members. Pennsylvania’s leaders should immediately remove unnecessary prescription requirements, and federal agencies must restore clear, science‑based guidance to ensure coverage for all who seek it. Every day we wait is another day our communities remain at risk.

David Hunter, Lansdowne

I recently read that in the coming years, there will be cuts to Social Security.

Congress keeps calling Social Security an “entitlement.” Let’s call it what it really is: our money. We worked for it. We paid into it every paycheck. We earned it.

The true “entitlements” are the cushy pensions, benefits, and perks members of Congress award themselves — benefits far richer than what ordinary Americans will ever see. If they think Social Security is an entitlement, then let them give up their gold-plated retirement plans and live on the same benefits as the rest of us.

Stop insulting hardworking Americans. Social Security is not a handout. It’s a promise. And Congress had better keep it.

Sandy Berenbaum, Richboro

The glowing obituary of Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson mentioned her doomed nomination to become the first African American woman to sit on the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. A few details of that event will further illustrate her admirable character.

The nomination was originally received positively. Judge Massiah-Jackson was respected by the bar, and she had selflessly taken on the unenviable assignment, together with Judges Russell Nigro and Michael Stiles, of reorganizing and slimming down the Common Pleas Court system in Philadelphia. And yet, opposition arose. But why? District Attorney Lynne Abraham maintained a sincere but overzealous philosophy that the victim always comes first. This put her at odds with Judge Massiah-Jackson, who was willing to reject prosecution arguments she found unreasonable and police testimony she found unbelievable. The other opponent, John Morganelli, was an upstate district attorney who had no experience before Judge Massiah-Jackson, but was always eager to jump on a tough-on-crime bandwagon.

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office created a list of 50 cases, which it publicized in arguing that the judge was unfit. Philadelphia Bar Chancellor Mark Aronchick appointed me to chair an ad hoc committee to examine the 50 cases. Retired judge Abraham Gafni assisted me in reviewing court records and transcripts and interviewing witnesses and Judge Massiah-Jackson. In our report, we found each of the 50 claims to be insubstantial or inaccurate. In the process, we found the judge to be judicious and dignified.

Sen. Arlen Specter relied on the report in his continued support of Judge Massiah-Jackson. However, by the time her nomination came before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the facts no longer mattered. The nomination was no longer about the nominee; the sole issue became where each senator stood on crime, and for the Republican majority, that was all it took.

Judge Massiah-Jackson’s quiet dignity in facing this unjust defeat was remarkable. Her ensuing devotion to “getting it right” as a trial judge in Philadelphia is a true reflection of her character and ability, as recognized by her colleagues who elected her as their president judge.

John W. Morris Sr., Philadelphia

Serious, honorable firearms owners do not shoot people. In 70 years, I have never met a diabolical gun owner. The National Rifle Association teaches firearms safety, not wanton killing. Do you blame the automobile for deaths in a collision, or the pool next door for a drowning? How about blaming a spoon for forcing you to gorge on ice cream and adding bulk to your frame? Inanimate objects have no soul to urge misuse. If they had animation, your dishes would wash themselves, and your laundry would self-clean. It’s the doer, not the object of the doing, that’s responsible for tragedy. There is no gun problem; only a miscreant people problem that society has allowed to burgeon with the absence of fathers, puny courts, and cowardly street punks.

Thomas M. Wnorowski, Millville

Several days of media coverage overwhelmed us with news of the recent mass shooting at a Minneapolis church school. Here’s what’s missing: I’d like the media to show a three-column chart. One shows the names of the 30 or 40 senators and representatives who received the largest campaign donations from the National Rifle Association. The second shows the amount of each donation. And the third column would show the number of bills a lawmaker authored or cosigned that focused on tightening gun laws, including the number of times he or she voted yes for any such bill. I’ll predict the number is zero. Then our shock and sadness could lead to targeted collective outrage, public shaming, and action in the next election.

Lynne Waymon, Newtown

I’m writing about the red-light cameras, particularly on the Roosevelt Boulevard. I understand pedestrian safety is paramount, but a speed limit of 40 miles per hour is questionable on a highway — 45 mph seems reasonable. But the main reason I’m writing this letter is to bring oversight to the fines that are being levied on the poor people of Philadelphia. I have destroyed two tires in various parts of Philadelphia due to deep potholes. Where are the millions of dollars going that each $125 red-light camera is bringing to bear on Philly residents? The Philadelphia Parking Authority is merciless in taking vehicles away and adding additional fines for holding them. This red-light camera scheme should be altered or replaced.

Markell B. Robinson, Philadelphia

An appeals court just ruled that most of the Trump administration’s tariffs were issued illegally. But the judges delayed the implementation of their order until October to grant the administration time to “seek review by the Supreme Court, allowing the duties to remain in place for now.”

In the meantime, real people all over the country and the world are feeling the impact of these tariffs. If an action is found to be illegal, why doesn’t the illegal activity have to stop immediately? If someone is threatening me, shouldn’t they have to stop when they are found to have broken the law?

Why does Donald Trump get to keep doing illegal things (like deporting people, firing people, canceling essential programs, threatening critics) until … what? His bespoke Supreme Court justices have enough time to find a way to justify it?

This seems to be the game plan for this administration: Go as far as you can, and depend on the highest court in the land to back you up by saying, “Nothing to see here, move along.” This does not bode well for the future of the United States of America.

Kathryn Creamer, Glenside

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