Letters to the Editor

I am 8 years old, in third grade at Central School, and live in Haddonfield. I want to see "Calvin and Hobbes" back in the comics section because it's hilarious.

"Calvin and Hobbes" makes me laugh out loud and I would enjoy reading it daily. Here, I added an example for you.

I think you can see why I like it now! My family agrees with me. I love it so much I am planning to be Hobbes for Halloween.

Craig McCoy's fine article on the turnaround within the Philadelphia criminal court system is heartening ("Reforms take hold at court office," Sunday). But one area not mentioned was the fact that the Clerk of Quarter Sessions lost hundreds of boxes of physical evidence taken from criminal trials after 1995. Before 1995, when criminal cases were still heard at City Hall, the clerk's office would sometimes take possession of physical evidence brought into court, and store it in a room on the sixth floor of City Hall. That room is now used by human resources staff.

When we at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project began looking into cases, we were stunned to learn that, for many cases before 1995, the physical evidence that could prove our potential clients' innocence could not be found because it had been "confiscated by the court." We eventually learned this meant the clerk's office had taken it after trial, but what had happened to all those cases no one knew. We asked everyone we could think of, but got no answers.

Finally, a clerk named Len Armstrong found a storage room so full of boxes he could barely move around. There were hundreds of boxes. Although the clerk's office is diligently trying to catalog the boxes to see what, exactly, has been stored there for nearly 20 years, the fact that the fifth-largest criminal justice system in the United States "lost" physical evidence from hundreds of cases is nothing less than a disgrace.

Whoever does the fact-checking for the Pop Quiz needs to go back to school. Last Sunday's quiz stated that Millard Fillmore was "sworn into office on this day in 1850, taking over for Zachary Taylor who died the day before." This would have come as a great surprise to President Taylor, who actually died on July 9, 1850, not June 9.

The example of expanded unions and their economic benefits by U.S. Rep. Bob Brady falls way short of the facts ("Unions can shrink the growing wealth gap," Monday). The two-taxpayer system, in which one taxpayer (union) receives higher salaries and free pension and health care for life vs. the taxpayer who works equally as hard but receives no pension or health benefits, will not continue.

Unions drive the cost of everything higher. Corrupt union and politician back-scratching bankrupts our states. Unions exercise excess control of everything from wages to work rules in government. This should be controlled by the citizens, not by a select group of insiders. Taxpayers have had enough.

From the 2010 midterm to the failed recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, taxpayers are sending a signal of change. Come on, November 2012.

The editorial on the abysmal collection process for property-tax delinquents is spot on ("Tax deadbeats don't fear city," Wednesday). In a cash-strapped city, the situation argues emphatically for steps that make a difference — not more hand-wringing about how difficult it is to do something.

Philadelphia does not have to reinvent the wheel, just take lessons from other cities on what works. I am certain that there is a way to do much better.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput misses the mark ("Pass vouchers now — or else," Thursday). Unless school-voucher advocates address the matter of religious schools inculcating their religions with public money from voucher students, they've not begun to address the concerns about the separation of church and state. Anything else is beside the First Amendment issue.

Let's not lose sight of what's most important for religion and government. Let's not be manipulated with "or-else" threats of "unhappy results for everyone in our state — lawmakers and constituents alike."

I am dismayed to learn that management and labor at the Pennsylvania Convention Center are doing their utmost to repel visitors ("Labor rejects convention blame," Thursday). At the same time, Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest are to be celebrated for all of their consequential bequests to Philadelphia, the latest in support of a tourist-friendly American Revolution Center ("Lenfest puts up $40 million for museum," Tuesday). Perhaps the Lenfests should make this gift contingent upon improved visitor satisfaction scores at the Convention Center.

The American Revolution gave us a new birth of freedom, which has brought people from throughout the world to our shores. It was a dramatic opening chapter in a continuing saga.

Let's expand the proposed American Revolution Center to also show what happened after we won our freedom. Where did "We, the People" come from? How did we get here? Where did we settle? What have we accomplished as a result of this new birth?

This center would help us know ourselves and would complement the nearby National Constitution Center. Visitors could even explore their own family roots. What a great opportunity to explore our national story.