Letters to the Editor

What You Say

Mercy, Mercy Me

[Slant, "A Question of Mercy," Michael Washburn, Oct. 17, 2007] references a piece I wrote last spring, and while I certainly empathize with his grief at the loss of an old friend, I am concerned that he has taken [Slant, "Cell Out," March 8, 2007] out of context. Washburn suggests I am criticizing the Pennsylvania justice system because it is "reluctant to grant paroles, and ... unwilling to commute the life sentences." I did not suggest that when someone does the crime, they should not do the time. I believe when someone is a danger to society, they should be incarcerated. However, in Pennsylvania today, thousands are in prison for life without the possibility of parole simply because they were in the wrong place with the wrong crowd at the wrong time, not because they actually committed the crime. The power to grant pardons is embedded in the Constitution because it is fundamental to establishing the character of our governance: imbuing it with the ability to rise above crassness and the level of humanity that commits violent crimes. If the clemency process is to have any meaning, it must be used sparingly with discernment and discretion, but, in the end, it must be used.

And, for the record, since Washburn seemed uncertain, the Prison Society is one of the world's foremost prison reform organizations, established in 1787 in Philadelphia and recognized by penologists around the world.

William DiMascio
Executive director, Pennsylvania Prison Society

That whitepower.org comment regarding Maureen Faulkner is way over the line [Bell Curve, Oct. 25, 2007].

Eric Smith
Mayfair

["Bell Curve," Oct. 25, 2007] reports that the white wife, Maureen Faulkner, of a murdered white man deserves mockery. Suggests we stick to idealizing murderers, not empathize with their victims, that is if they're white. Decline of city, and human decency, accelerates. Minus 10.

Harvey Schwartz
Washington Square

Let me see if I can summarize your moral calculus: Someone who writes a sympathetic portrait of the widow of a murdered police officer is abetting white supremacism simply because the victim was white and the perpetrator is black. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at what must have been a virtual Algonquin Round Table at your office when that issue was discussed.

Adam Levick
West Philadelphia 

[Cover, "Congrats, Mayor Nutter!" Tom Namako and Doron Taussig, Oct. 25, 2007] is a great article. I think it would have been just as effective if you would have used alternatives to the profanity.

Michael Cunningham
Mount Airy

The seemingly all-knowing Taussig and Namako might have some clues to what the new mayor will face, but are clueless when they give their tripe on real estate taxes and the BPT. They seem to have spent too much time listening uncritically to the "tax advocate" (whatever that means) Brett Mandel. I have been following Mandel and the now-retired BRT chairman David Glanceyfor years, listening to their idiocy about "Full Value" and assessments. The dangers of doing it wrong are accentuated by the total ineptitude of the BRT andwould be devastating to hundreds of thousands of homeowners. The devil is in the details andcritical issues,such as how the BRT will arrive at new assessment figures, how transparent those assessment figures are and the way appealsare handled. Thereis the issue of "buffers," which are ways to make huge tax increases more palatable and gradual. These include:the matter of three- to five-yearaveraging,homesteading discounts, long-term residentexemptions,etc.,etc., which may or not pander to special interests. There is the crucial issue ofthe new millage rate that City Council would have to decide on and the new mayor would have to approve.These are critical points they don't even mention.

Ron Nicholls
Queen Village

Thanks for including the DHS storyline; it cut completely right to the chase. The teen/gun murder rate in this city also had a lot to do with city social services doing a poor job, and it snowballed into what we have the last few years. Then John Street finally ripped into DHS just over a year ago and they went into panic mode to protect their jobs; many families, including mine, were severely damaged if someone phoned in any complaint about a child's behavior since late October 2006. This ripple affect will be felt for years. Going through [the process of] trying to prove that I am decent parent, even with my flaws, [is something] I wish that no one else has to experience. [This] organization has no compassion for their actions, utilizing witchhunt-like powers to appear to be doing a better job so no other staffers lose their jobs.

Randy Booth
Roxborough 

The only "merit selection" in Pennsylvania history was Gov. Casey's response to corrupt judges in the 1987 Roofers Scandal. Most jurisdictions that appoint judges through "merit selection" have a "retention system" whereby appointees have to be approved by the electorate every 10 years in order to enable the voters to eliminate obviously unqualified judges. A wholesale purge [Political Notebook, "When Pigs Drive," Mary Patel, Oct. 25, 2007] would remove distinguished judges [and] be a grave miscarriage of justice.

Mary Goldman; Peter Hearn, Esq., and Ernest E. Jones
Co-chairs, 1987 Casey Five Campaign

Bruuuuuuce!

Thanks for the inspired report on the Solar Decathlon held recently on Washington's National Mall, a competition involving 20 prototype solar homes designed to generate more electricity than they consume [Loose Canon, "Solar Games, Market Gains," Bruce Schimmel, Oct. 25, 2007]. The event was also covered by Jim Lehrer's NewsHour for public television, though without much historical memory. More than 25 years ago, President Carter had the White House fitted with state-of-the-art solar panels, only to see them later removed by President Reagan. So what did the Reagan administration have to say about this at the time, or were the panels removed in the wee hours without comment?

The Carter White House offered some of the first rays of hope toward an energy-efficient, post-petroleum era and the National Mall was host to a remarkable Energy Fair in 1980. Perhaps a future Solar Decathlon could enlist competitors to retrofit the White House, making it the nation's exemplary, energy-producing home.

John Dowlin
Powelton Village

The Coveted Puppy-Huggers Endorsement Goes To ...

While this year's City Council election doesn't feature many contested races, there is one important race all Philadelphians have a stake in — the at-large seat that will be filled by either incumbent Jack Kelly or his challenger, David Oh [News, "Costume Party," Tom Namako, Oct. 25, 2007]. For everyone in the city with a pet dog or cat they care about, the choice is clear: Jack Kelly.

Kelly has worked hard toward lowering the kill rates at our city shelters, saving tens of thousands of pets a year from an untimely death and he wants to make the city's shelters no-kill during his next term. That's why Kelly is endorsed by the Humane Society's Political Action Committee, the League of Humane Voters and many others. That's not to mention all the work Jack has done to greatly increase funding for the arts, lower property taxes, save our libraries, protect our firefighters and push for reform in our broken school system.

Everyone in the city gets five votes for City Council's at-large positions: Make Kelly, and not Oh, one of yours.

Nick Cooney
West Philadelphia