Letters to the Editor | Oct. 1, 2023

Some Republicans are raising hell over Pennsylvania’s new automatic voter registration. It seems like only yesterday that they were touting voter ID as the only effective way to stop their imagined “voter fraud.” Yet this new system means each new registrant has an official state driver’s license or photo ID card — the exact proof of identity these same Republicans were demanding not so long ago. Their opposition to it is clearly grounded in something other than fraud prevention. Perhaps they just don’t like the idea of Pennsylvanians voting, period.

Stephen Sander, Pennsbury Township

Hezekiah Bernard, known to those who loved him as Hezzy, died last month. He was 12 years old, and I can’t stop thinking about him. The thought of him being left for dead in a dumpster is enough to keep me up at night. His family loved him. He was a child of God. He should be a seventh grader doing goofy middle school stuff — playing video games, enjoying his favorite sport, playing an instrument — all the things that go with being young. This should outrage us all, Philadelphia.

The many systems, people, and community organizations who tried to help should not feel defeated. We are a community, and until we all spend sleepless nights over a 12-year-old being murdered and put in a dumpster, we cannot move forward. A 12-year-old cannot go missing in plain sight. The adults whose responsibility it was — and that’s all of us — can’t turn a blind eye and go about our day. Let’s do better. It starts with opening our eyes and seeing Hezekiah. It has spurred me to do more and pay attention more. Hezekiah, I see you.

Cheryl Logan, Greenville, Del., chlogan@upenn.edu

The dismissal of all charges against former Police Officer Mark Dial in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry is appalling. It leaves me disgusted with the failure to protect all citizens fairly and to prevent police from the use of excessive force. It is preposterous that this case should not be presented fully in a court of law. Certainly, there are two sides to this story — and that is what a trial is all about. It seems plain common sense that the facts evident in the videos and testimony made public show there is merit to those charges. (To wit, use of deadly force within seconds of encountering the situation against the perceived threat from someone with a knife sitting in a stationary car with the windows up.)

Does the law entitle a police officer to use lethal force simply by stating that he or she felt their life was in danger? Is it just an opinion or feeling, regardless of whether that is substantiated by actual circumstances? Even as a 75-year-old white man who lives in the suburbs, I can identify with the sickening feeling felt by so many Philadelphians of color that the law means something entirely different for them. How can they trust that the police will protect and take care of them?

Daniel Keifer, Abington, d.c.keifer@gmail.com

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