Plenty of jail space

Julie Kostelecky (June 23) questions if the shooting of two Spokane County sheriff’s deputies by Charles Wallace can be blamed on lack of jail space. It cannot. Today, the Spokane County jail population is 860. During the years 2000-2008, the average daily jail population was over 1,000, and often over 1,100. There is plenty of room at the jail.

The judge that sentenced Charles Wallace to treatment instead of jail makes hundreds of decisions a year. In hindsight, it was the wrong decision. And Cynthia Imbrogno is a federal magistrate, not a Spokane County judge.

Linda Krogh

Spokane

Law a victory for women

The U.S. Supreme Court’s health care decision is a victory for women. By August 2012, the Affordable Care Act will have made it possible for more than 45 million women to receive coverage for preventive health screenings at no cost, and millions more women will be able to access free screenings in the coming years. Additionally, women will have guaranteed direct access to OB-GYN providers without a referral. The law will end discriminatory practices against women, such as charging higher premiums and denying coverage for “pre-existing conditions.”

As a public health worker and advocate for access to health care, these changes are an exciting step toward acknowledging health and health care as a universal human right. We must, however, remember that it does not make care universally accessible, nor does it remove the biggest hurdle to this access: the presence of for-profit health insurance companies.

Elise Raimi

Spokane

U.N. should focus on Syria

Regarding the United Nations Summit “The Future We Want”: The U.N. had another of its infamous meetings of 50,000 attendees. The largest ever, they plan to spend $513 billion to bring clean water, sanitation and energy to the world’s poor, without “further degrading the planet,” all of this terrific boondoggle going on while the U.N. removes its observers from Syria, where the thuggish Assad tyranny murders its people.

If they are really interested in not degrading the planet, they should travel to Homs, Syria, to see some real degrading. Shouldn’t this be the U.N.’s business?

Instead, the carefully protected diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, intone that “We need fresh, agile, action-oriented partnerships that can produce results year after year.” Show us the results please, any results – and how about some agility in dealing with the Assad tyranny?

John A. Peterson

Spokane

Think twice before pranks

On the night of June 18, I was parked overnight in Spokane Valley and my car was egged. I am not from Spokane. I do not know who the eggers are, but I wanted to send them some thoughts about why my car was parked in the Valley.

My mom had been battling stage 4 lung and brain cancer and had been placed in an adult family home. She was one of the most giving people this world ever had. The night of the 18th was her last night here. I sat vigilant next to her and watched her pass away. Going to my egged car after consoling my siblings was heartbreaking. Thankfully, it was raining and no one could see my tears of frustration. I wiped as much of that egg off as possible to go home safely.

So to teenagers who think egging cars is a fun summertime activity, think twice before you egg that random car. You never know what the owner is going through. My mom would have donated that egg to a homeless shelter. Think twice and look with your heart before you engage in this senseless act of “summer fun.”

Leigh Hancock

Grandview, Wash.