Letters to the Editor | Oct. 24, 2022

City Council President Darrell L. Clarke says city officials need “to get in a room and figure out a way to like each other” in an effort to stem the tide of gun violence. Of course, he’s talking about city agencies working together for a change, rather than thinking politics first, as is their custom. There is a glaring absence of mention, in The Inquirer article, of participation by the Police Department and the police union as part of the solution. How can a city official lament noncooperation and not include the police? Mayor Jim Kenney was mentioned, District Attorney Larry Krasner was mentioned, but not Commissioner Danielle Outlaw or police union head John McNesby, who, by the way, was very quick to criticize City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart’s recent report that was critical of the Police Department.

Let’s bring the police to the table and start with how we can reduce gun violence while 10% of the force is out on disability, collecting pay, not paying wage taxes, and, in some cases, working outside jobs.

Angelo Sgro, Philadelphia

Health is on the ballot in the upcoming Pennsylvania senatorial election. I am not referring to John Fetterman, who recently released his medical records (Oct. 20). Instead, it is Mehmet Oz whose health concerns me. His physical health is fine, but I question the status of his moral health. His willingness to promote miracle cures and to raise false hopes for his own personal gain, along with his willingness to mock Fetterman’s health, lead me to suspect that his moral health is failing. As a physician, I would expect him to be more principled on health-related issues, even those of his opponent. Fortunately, Fetterman’s health problems are treatable and he is improving. I am not convinced that there is any treatment for one whose moral health is failing. Last I checked, there is no such thing as a conscience transplant.

Mark Lopatin, Jamison

In the latest headline of someone released from prison now accused of murder, why does it seem like the focus is on that release as a mistake? Why did the judge question the District Attorney’s Office about the challenges that office saw in the issues brought forward? If evidence shows that the case was badly handled, surely that is an important element. Court work and police work must be held to high standards. One might better look to why the violence is happening, which may be a bigger question, one that the community as a whole must reckon with. Social needs, met or not met, shape how people grow and thrive or fall apart, and that includes justice working at its best.

Joan Broadfield, Chester, broadfieldje@gmail.com

The Inquirer has published letters and columns about when abortion might be allowed. Some of us believe that human life arises at the moment of conception. Some believe that it emerges gradually as the fetus matures. These are religious beliefs about the unknowns of what is human life. Either is fine, we are entitled to our views.

But the law should not be used to promote one religious view over others. For nearly 50 years, we had the right to choose abortion within the limits set by the Roe v. Wade decision of the Supreme Court.

The recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision by the court allows states to impose one religious view on everyone, which is the belief that human life begins at conception. That is a violation of the First Amendment.

To maintain democracy, we need compromise. Roe was the compromise we needed. It put limits on abortion. Within those limits, it allowed the individual to decide when a human life begins. We should have kept that compromise. Now that option must be taken by each state.

Harry Thorn, Philadelphia

Just as George Floyd’s murder has been the tipping point that forced America to finally confront its racist legacy, Emmett Till’s brutal murder was the tipping point for the civil rights movement of the 1950s. Till’s savage murder wasn’t unusual. By 1955, thousands of African Americans had been lynched. Mamie Till’s insistence on an open casket and allowing the publication of photos of Emmett’s disfigured face made Till’s murder a cause célèbre.

In 1953, there had been a bus boycott in Baton Rouge, La. Months before Till’s murder, Claudette Colvin and Aurelia Browder had been arrested for failing to obey Montgomery, Ala.’s bus segregation ordinance. After Till’s murder, two more women were arrested for violating that ordinance. The lynching of Emmett Till, his murderers’ subsequent quick trial and acquittal, and the arrests of these four women formed Rosa Park’s thinking in courageously refusing to move her bus seat.

Within 10 years of Till’s murder, Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This country owes a big debt to Mamie Till for forcing America, in 1955, to confront its racism.

Paul L. Newman, Merion Station

While felony murder is an issue in the Pennsylvania Senate race, few people know what it is.

Felony murder occurs when someone dies during the course of a felony. Everyone committing the felony is guilty of murder, even if they did not actually kill anybody. Intent is irrelevant. For example, three men rob a bank. One carries a gun, another grabs the money, and the third waits outside in a getaway car. The gunman shoots and kills a teller. The gunman is guilty of felony murder. The bag man, who was unarmed, and the getaway driver, who was not even in the building, are also guilty of murder. If the death occurred because the gun accidentally went off, all three would be guilty of murder because the killing does not have to be intentional.

Many states have abolished felony murder. It is fair to question whether Pennsylvania should do so, too.

Charles Lewis, Richboro

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