Letters to the Editor | Jan. 13, 2025

In his recent annual comments on the state of the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts decried what he felt was the growing lack of respect for the judiciary. Sadly, this man is incapable of any self-awareness. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have compromised themselves by accepting valuable gifts and refusing to recuse themselves, yet the court turns up its nose at the suggestion of imposing a serious ethics code. The court has also given Donald Trump a get-out-of-jail-free card by declaring presidents mostly immune from prosecution. Clearly, Roberts and his conservative colleagues on the court are the ones who have no respect for the role of an impartial judiciary and the rule of law.

Larry Skvir, Delran

It will be interesting to see what history says about the Roberts Court. We have rulings that seem to reflect partisan politics and personal religious beliefs rather than decisions that are based on constitutional analysis. There is also alleged corruption on the part of some justices sitting on a court without ethical guardrails. On top of this, Chief Justice John Roberts has recently condemned threats to judicial independence. He seems oblivious to the fact that this court holds considerable distrust among society. Perhaps it is time for him to look within himself and within the group he is in charge. Until he does that, his remarks will land on deaf ears.

Bill Pelle, Haverford, bill.to.write@gmail.com

The sheer magnitude of Israel’s aerial bombings over the Gaza Strip has no parallel in the 21st century. Entire Palestinian families have been wiped out over the past 15 months of nonstop bombings. Starvation persists while Israel continues its daily massacres. The entire world seems both powerless and unwilling to stop this genocide. President-elect Donald Trump blurts out that “all hell will break loose” if Hamas has not released the remaining hostages by his inauguration, as if near-total devastation has not already occurred. Such immoral, obscene behavior by the U.S. and the entire West will not be seen kindly in the annals of history.

Sid Sussman, Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The new year has not ended the hell on Earth the Palestinians in Gaza suffer due to our unconditional support of Israel. On a territory with roughly the area and population of Philadelphia, Israel has, for some 450 days, on average killed 100 Palestinians per day, many of them women and children. We are supporting Israel’s one-state solution, which President Jimmy Carter described as apartheid worse than South Africa’s. The world’s leading human rights organizations have issued similar assessments.

Global courts have found it plausible Israel breached the Genocide Convention, ordered the country to refrain from genocidal acts, and issued arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister. Alas, instead of ending the atrocities, the U.S. House of Representatives last year passed a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court in response to its prosecutor’s request for these warrants. Similarly, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was even invited to address Congress, receiving a standing ovation. Without illusions, I hope we in 2025 will end our moral collapse, broker a cease-fire in Gaza, and get closer to treating others as we would like them to treat us.

Hans Lofgren, Swarthmore

The rush of major corporations and social media companies to throw mountains of cash at Donald Trump for his inauguration (more than $170 million so far, with no accounting as to whether the money is needed or how it will be used) and to wrangle invitations to dine with him at Mar-a-Lago to curry his favor is both discouraging and frightening. That is how dictators are treated, and reflects the fear Trump has generated in this country’s corporate leaders. His threats of regulatory and legal actions against them reflect Trump’s acknowledged admiration for autocratic leaders around the world, and his willingness to adopt their repressive tactics.

Where is the public outcry against these antidemocratic threats? Are we destined to watch our democracy spiral down thanks to one man’s perceived grievances and retaliatory actions in the coming years? I fear from what we’ve witnessed so far that this is the fate of our country under Trump. Only a concerted outcry from those of us who see what is happening might somehow at least slow this downward spiral, although I’m at pains to see how that will happen if our elected leaders in Congress aren’t willing to risk their positions by acting to stop it.

Ben Zuckerman, Philadelphia

Duncan Adkins’ op-ed advocating for barriers to protect cyclists presents a fascinating analysis of how Philly developed and why we have chaos on our streets. Since cars driven erratically may stray into the bike lane with deadly results, barriers, and not just markings, may be a desirable solution, as he argues. But there are two questionable points in his piece.

One is the unbridled praise for Hoboken, N.J.’s successful Vision Zero program. That city’s 20 mph universal speed limit looks great when you sit behind a desk, but becomes irrelevant when driving down a North Philly street at 10 a.m., very safely at 30 mph with absolutely no pedestrians or bike riders anywhere in sight. Research shows simple carelessness on the part of both pedestrians and drivers is actually a more common cause of car-pedestrian crashes than driving too fast.

Adkins should instead be praising Jersey City, N.J., where a subtle road diet combined with replacing red lights (which bad drivers can run) with traffic circles has shortened travel times on through streets. The circles calm the worst drivers and make it much easier for drivers to notice pedestrians because of the different angles of approach.

Adkins’ other questionable belief is that protecting the bike lanes will significantly reduce traffic. He loses sight of the high percentage of Philly traffic with its origin in the suburbs or the far reaches of the city. Despite the high number of cyclists he claims use Spruce and Pine Streets, the percentage of commuters on bikes is still small compared with the number of cars. A large increase in bikes still won’t put much of a dent in the volume of auto traffic.

John Baxter, Toano, Va., jmbaxt@aol.com

A Washington Post article in the Jan. 2 edition of The Inquirer was an excellent example of timely and important journalism: a lengthy piece on clams and climate mysteries, providing important details on the history of global climate change, the relationship to the oceans’ conveyor belt, and the status of scientific research underpinning potential climate impacts. My guess is that not a lot of readers read the entire article, and those who did found it challenging without previous relevant background. As it happens, I gave public talks on global climate change, so it was very useful to me.

But my point is not about the content or who might have found it useful. Your journalism showed respect for the role of science and the scientific approach in understanding this complex global situation. Hopefully, readers can better appreciate the need for committed scientists with years of in-depth research — and skepticism — in order to address this critical issue of our day. Thank you for publishing responsible journalism, which stands in sharp contrast to most current media (especially online) rife with opinions and impatience, lacking facts and deep thinking.

John Conrad, West Chester

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