Letters, March 28: Mueller report, minimum wage and detention center mistreatment

Posted 3/27/19

Mueller report should go public

Did we just receive Attorney General William Barr's interpretation of the Mueller report with the caveat that a sitting President cannot be indicted for …

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Letters, March 28: Mueller report, minimum wage and detention center mistreatment

Posted

Mueller report should go public

Did we just receive Attorney General William Barr's interpretation of the Mueller report with the caveat that a sitting President cannot be indicted for obstruction of justice? Or was this just a press release?

Have we set the bar so low on what we expect of our President's behavior that Trump has become a person above the law? So much of his behavior regarding "collusion" and obstruction of justice played out before our eyes over the past two and a half years, and yet, to date, he remains secure in his role.

Many questions remain unanswered, and we, the people, need to see the full Mueller report to know if our President was merely a bumbling fool for the Russians or an unwitting agent, and why did Barr mention in his outline of the report that the President was not exonerated?

I'm just an average citizen, but I really do care, don't you?

Maria Duca

Chestnut Hill

 

The minimum wage needs to increase

Whatever you think you know about the minimum wage, you’re probably wrong. Most people who earn the minimum wage are adults working to support their families, not teens working for pocket change.

Raising the minimum wage has little if any impact on employment. Pennsylvania is an outlier — every nearby state, including West Virginia, has raised the minimum wage.

I strongly support Rep. Christopher Rabb’s efforts to raise the minimum wage in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Ann Mintz

Mt. Airy

 

Stop mistreatment at Berks Co. detention center

Two-week old babies are in jail. In our backyard. Sick children are not receiving adequate medical care. Vulnerable mothers and their children are sexually abused by staff. Refugee families are imprisoned for months to years in the Berks County Detention Center, in direct violation of the Flores order, which banned long-term family detention.

Because of the appalling conditions at BCDC, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services refused to re-certify the Center in 2016, yet the families continue to suffer there. Said one mother who was held for nearly two years with her son, “Instead of finding protection, we find a prison.”

This travesty is being perpetrated in our Commonwealth, in our name. And it can stop today. Governor Wolf has the power to issue an Emergency Removal Order to prevent danger to families. Further admissions would be stopped. The families could be released to relatives or friends; they could then live in freedom and safety.

Why not transform this facility to address urgent human needs in Pennsylvania, rather than locking up innocent immigrants seeking safety? Why not use BCDC as a drug treatment facility for Pennsylvanians suffering from addiction to opioids?

The time to act is now.

Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman

Mt. Airy

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