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Author: The Inquirer Editorial Board

  • Fewer killings, more homicide cases solved is good news for Philadelphia | Editorial

    Fewer killings, more homicide cases solved is good news for Philadelphia | Editorial

    Philadelphia has lost 187 people to homicide this year. With just over two months left in 2025, this represents a marked improvement over the pandemic era, a time when the city experienced more than 500 killings annually.

    This reduction — along with an increase in the number of homicide cases detectives are solving — is worth celebrating. But, as evidenced by the horrific killing of Kada Scott and far too many other calamities, there is still much more to be done. Even if homicides remain under 240 killings this year, which would be the lowest number since the 1960s, it would still leave the city with a homicide rate that is triple that of New York or Boston.

    That’s not to say there hasn’t been important progress.

    In 2020, when gun violence was beginning to surge, City Council authorized the “100 Shooting Review,” which identified weaknesses in the criminal justice system and outlined a series of recommendations to cool the violence.

    In 2021, Philadelphia invested more than $150 million in violence prevention and intervention programs. The disbursement of those funds was marked by instances of disorganization and insufficient oversight. However, according to those who study urban violence, the money served its purpose.

    Lessons must be learned after criminal justice system fails Kada Scott | Editorial

    A report from the Coalition to Save Lives credited community programs, including city-funded initiatives, with helping to reduce gun violence. Community leaders like the Rev. Carl Day, pastor of the Culture Changing Christians Worship Center, also stepped up, even without city support.

    Thanks, in part, to new technology and the installation of high-definition cameras across the city, police are now solving between 85% and 91% of homicide cases, a 40-year high.

    The clearance rate — or the percentage of homicides that have been solved — had dipped as low as 42% in recent years, meaning killers were more likely than not to get away with murder in Philadelphia.

    Beyond providing closure for families and accountability to perpetrators, solving cases and prosecuting offenders can also help deter future acts of violence. According to crime researchers, certainty of punishment is one of the most effective deterrents for those who are likely to kill. This effect is particularly strong for younger offenders, who tend to act impulsively. Given that gun violence among teens continued to rise despite the progress made in other age groups, continuing to improve the clearance rate is essential.

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    Solving cases also helps to prevent cycles of retributive shootings by gang members. These days, experts say, it is song lyrics and social media beefs that drive many conflicts between rival gangs, not territorial clashes. Solving cases, and doing so quickly, can help intervene before these groups become the next Young Bag Chasers.

    Despite the drop in the murder rate, Philadelphia still often feels beset by misdemeanors and lower-level felonies that contribute to an overall sense of disorder. Reckless driving permeates nearly all corners of the city, many transit stations reek of smoke and urine, illegal dumping plagues communities, blighted buildings like the former Ada H.H. Lewis Middle School attract crime, and police can take hours to respond to calls.

    Many Center City businesses feel the need to employ armed security due to regular incidents involving thieves or emotionally disturbed people. In August, a security guard at a women’s clothing store fired a warning shot at a man who was harassing the staff. Earlier this month, a security guard at an IHOP in Center City was charged with murder after shooting a man who allegedly spat on her. Buying clothes and eating pancakes should not feel like a trip to the Wild West, nor should crossing the street feel like a game of Frogger.

    Philadelphia’s leaders, including Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel, deserve credit for the progress the city has made in providing justice and reducing gun violence. But the job is far from over.

  • Lessons must be learned after criminal justice system fails Kada Scott | Editorial

    Lessons must be learned after criminal justice system fails Kada Scott | Editorial

    The killing of Kada Scott is tragic on many levels, but hopefully, some lessons can be learned to honor her life.

    Scott’s death is all the more painful for her family and friends because it could have been prevented. That’s because it appears District Attorney Larry Krasner and the Philadelphia court system failed her.

    The man accused of abducting Scott had been previously charged with assaulting an ex-girlfriend twice in the last year, but prosecutors withdrew the charges after the victim did not show up for court.

    After Scott’s disappearance, Krasner’s office admitted its handling of the earlier cases was a mistake. If the district attorney’s office had instead prosecuted Keon King, 21, then perhaps Scott, 23, would still be alive.

    “We could’ve done better,” Krasner said at a news conference Monday, echoing earlier comments from Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski, who said last week, “Everyone involved at this point, including the [initial prosecutor], agrees that we wish this happened differently.”

    To be sure, hindsight is 20/20. But a review of King’s legal entanglements indicates a series of miscues may have enabled Scott’s death.

    The case also offers a window into the challenges of filing domestic abuse charges, and underscores the need for prosecutors to be more aggressive in going after the accused while doing more to ensure the safety of victims.

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    For starters, King’s initial assault charges last November were handled by an inexperienced assistant district attorney who was juggling multiple cases. During that incident, prosecutors said, King grabbed an ex-girlfriend by the neck and tried to strangle her after she refused to lie on the bed with him, according to the affidavit.

    But after initially cooperating with the authorities, King’s accuser stopped responding to calls from prosecutors. After she failed to appear at three court hearings, the district attorney’s office withdrew the case.

    In January, King tried to break into the woman’s home, but fled before police arrived, according to an affidavit. He returned later in the day and dragged the woman by her hair, shoved her in a car, and drove away before dropping her off on the side of the road.

    This time, the woman and her friend captured video of King trying to get into her home. He was arrested again and charged with kidnapping, strangulation, and other charges.

    But once again, the victim and her friend refused to cooperate with prosecutors, so the charges were withdrawn in May.

    Kevin Scott, Kada Scott’s father, with a photo of his daughter.

    This is not unusual, as victims of domestic violence often live in fear of the perpetrators. Reviewing the period between 2010 and 2020, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that 70% of victims of domestic violence cases failed to appear in Philadelphia’s courts.

    A big part of the problem is that the accused are often out on bail and still threatening the victims. In King’s case, after the second set of assault charges, prosecutors requested bail of $1 million, but the magistrate lowered it to $200,000.

    King posted the necessary 10% — or $20,000 — and was released in April.

    Krasner blamed the magistrate for lowering the bail, but his office could have appealed the ruling.

    There is a fine line in detaining suspects accused of crimes for months on end until a trial. But in domestic violence cases, the current system is not working and needs to be revamped.

    Prosecutors and judges must do everything possible to guarantee the safety of victims. Victims need more support within the criminal justice system to ensure their safety.

    More broadly, additional preventive steps are needed to reduce violence against women, including standing up to rape culture, empowering women, and teaching boys to respect women.

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    Black women disproportionately experience higher rates of domestic abuse, including rape and homicides, studies show, further underscoring the need for more awareness, training, and preventive measures.

    In this instance, given that King had been charged once before, the magistrate and Krasner’s office dropped the ball.

    And although the victim refused to testify, the district attorney’s office could have used the video evidence to move forward with King’s prosecution — though not having the witnesses testify certainly would have made for a tougher case.

    To his credit, Krasner, a former defense attorney who faces reelection next month and has been criticized for being soft on crime, admitted his office was ultimately to blame.

    “The buck stops here,” he said.

    Sadly, a young, vibrant woman full of promise has died, and another woman was previously assaulted and traumatized. Krasner said the public played an enormous role in Scott’s case, and asked for anyone with information to call 215-686-TIPS.

    The only positive outcome will be to ensure justice is served, and a broken legal system in which victims are afraid to testify is fixed, so others do not experience the same horrific outcome.

  • U.S.-Venezuela prisoner swap is a chilling reminder of Trump’s scorn for the rule of law | Editorial

    U.S.-Venezuela prisoner swap is a chilling reminder of Trump’s scorn for the rule of law | Editorial

    On July 18, more than 250 Venezuelan immigrants held since March in a Salvadoran prison at the behest of the Trump administration were released in a prisoner swap for 10 U.S. citizens and permanent residents jailed by the Venezuelan government.

    For the men and their families, it could not have been a more joyous moment. It had been months since they last heard from their loved ones, not knowing if they were alive or dead.

    For the respective governments involved, it was also a time to crow.

    After all, it was President Donald Trump’s “leadership and commitment to the American people” that freed the imprisoned Americans. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called it a “perfect day” for his country, and blame for the “kidnapped Venezuelan migrants” was put on his opponents “on the Venezuelan right.”

    Even self-described “world’s coolest dictator” (and apparently America’s next top jailer), Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, got a little self-love in, boasting on X of the “months of negotiations with a tyrannical regime” that El Salvador had engaged in to help get the Americans home.

    Well, bully for authoritarianism.

    For the rest of us — for those who believe in the rule of law and still hold out hope for the American Experiment — July 18 may be remembered as a dark day.

    Unless the administration is held accountable for the blatantly illegal way it upended these immigrants’ lives, the episode will mark a new low in America’s slide toward illiberal democracy under President Trump.

    As prisoners stand looking out from a cell, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in March.

    Undue process

    To be sure, the release of all these men is good news. Most of the freed Americans were wrongfully detained and accused of being involved in plots to destabilize Venezuela.

    Their arrests were part of a transparent, cynical ploy by the Maduro regime to use these men like bargaining chips as the country struggles to get out from under oil sanctions that have contributed to the nation’s deep economic problems.

    The illegal detentions were also par for the course for a government where every branch is controlled by Maduro loyalists, and which routinely jails its own dissidents. (The swap included 80 political prisoners, but there are conflicting reports on whether they have all been released.)

    There is no question that Venezuela’s actions are morally and legally indefensible. But what about America’s?

    The more than 250 Venezuelans who ended up in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, were sent there by the Trump administration on March 15. They were deported with little or no due process under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, accused of being dangerous criminals and members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which Trump declared a terrorist organization.

    In sending the men to a place notorious for its poor conditions and inhumane treatment of prisoners — in a $6 million deal with El Salvador’s Bukele — the administration called the detainees “the worst of the worst.”

    But reporting by several media organizations quickly put the lie to those claims, with ProPublica finding the government’s own records show that it knew the vast majority of the men had not been convicted of any violent crime in the U.S., and only a few had committed crimes abroad.

    Most of the men were also not very hard to find, as they were either never released from immigration custody while they pursued asylum claims or their cases were moving through the immigration system.

    Take the four Venezuelans identified as having ties to Pennsylvania before they were sent to CECOT.

    Inmates exercise under the watch of prison guards during a press tour of the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, in Tecololuca, El Salvador, Oct. 12, 2023.

    Joén Manuel Suárez Fuentes, 23, was detained during a traffic stop and charged with driving without a license. Ileis Villegas Freites, 28, had been sentenced to one year of probation for retail theft in Montgomery County.

    Miguel Gregorio Vaamondes Barrios, 32, had a series of shoplifting arrests, including an open theft case in Pennsylvania, and was convicted of petit larceny in Nassau County, N.Y. Luis Jean Pier Gualdrón, 22, had a pending asylum application when he was deported. He had pleaded guilty to harassment in Northampton County, Pa., and was sentenced to three to six months in jail.

    While some may argue that only people of unimpeachable moral character should be welcomed in America — and having a criminal record can disqualify immigrants from being granted legal status — these men were far from the “monsters” and members of a gang who the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said “rape, maim, and murder for sport.”

    And even if they had been charged with being the worst of the worst, under the Constitution, the government still has to prove its case against anyone it seeks to deprive of “life, liberty, or property.”

    In deporting the Venezuelans, the administration acted recklessly and lawlessly, ignoring not only the letter of the law but also directly disregarding an order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, barring the government from transferring the men to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act.

    That the men are now free — although it is highly likely some have been placed right back in the dangerous situations under an oppressive regime they were fleeing in the first place — does not absolve the Trump administration of wrongdoing.

    Migrants deported months before by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, July 18, 2025.

    Test case

    Throughout the entire ordeal, the government has placed itself above the law.

    Seeking to make good on Trump’s promise of mass deportations and tall tales of criminal immigrants running rampant, administration officials engaged in the kind of abuse of power that is un-American on its face.

    The government selected a group of men under suspect criteria, identifying many of them as gang members based on the discredited belief that they had identifying tattoos. It then disappeared them, sending them to a foreign prison known for its brutal conditions, where they were unable to communicate with their families or lawyers.

    To this day, officials have not even released a full list of names of the people they sent to El Salvador. What is publicly available has been cobbled together from families speaking out and media reports. It is unclear if everyone deported has been accounted for.

    The government consistently defied court interventions, claiming that once the men were in El Salvador, they had no direct control over what would happen to them. The prisoner swap makes this particular lie only more blatant.

    Most alarming is that there is nothing stopping them from doing it again — or keeping them from doing it to whomever they want. Already, Trump has mused about sending Americans to El Salvador.

    “The homegrowns are next,” he told Bukele during the Salvadoran leader’s April visit to the White House. “You gotta build about five more places. … It’s not big enough.”

    Having already violated the Fifth Amendment guaranteeing due process, it’s not much of a stretch for the administration to ignore the Eighth Amendment’s protection from cruel and unusual punishment.

    America cannot move on from what happened to the Venezuelan immigrants. Their plight cannot be swept away in the flood of scandals and outrages that regularly flow from the White House.

    The Trump administration cannot be allowed to do this to anyone ever again.

  • Trump’s morally bankrupt mass deportation plan revels in cruelty and brutality | Editorial

    Trump’s morally bankrupt mass deportation plan revels in cruelty and brutality | Editorial

    As Donald Trump intensifies his push for mass deportations, and communities rightfully protest in defense of their immigrant members, local and state leaders must be ready to stand up and defend the rule of law — including civil rights — against a president who is increasingly bent on using authoritarian tactics.

    The United States is a nation of laws, and those who are in the country illegally should understand there are consequences. But two wrongs don’t make a right, and the way the Trump administration has engaged in enforcing immigration has leaned into the kind of cruelty and brutality that is anathema to American values.

    During his presidential campaign, Trump was clear that if elected, he would seek to deport the estimated 11 million people in the country without authorization. Thanks to misinformation, propaganda, and the Biden administration’s inability to pursue a coherent asylum strategy, many voters were sold on Trump’s promise of mass deportation as a viable solution to what they saw as a crisis on the border.

    The U.S. has every right to control who enters the country, and detaining and deporting immigrants who commit violent offenses has near-universal support. But mass deportation is a morally bankrupt policy whose execution, even if done within the boundaries of the law, results in families and communities being torn apart, to no discernible benefit.

    Protesters confront police following an immigration raid protest the night before. Mass deportations tear families and communities apart, to no discernible benefit, the Editorial Board writes.

    If the president were serious about ending illegal immigration, he would begin by lobbying Congress to reform a system that is deeply broken and works only for those who seek to exploit people who are looking for a better life in the land of opportunity.

    The old saw that immigrants in the country illegally should “get in line” cuts to one of the biggest misconceptions about immigration, and that is that for most people seeking to come to the U.S. legally, or to adjust their status once here, there is no line.

    And yet, America is filled with jobs that depend on immigrant labor.

    Immigrants toil under difficult conditions in construction, meat processing, and dairy farming. They take care of our children and our elderly, and pick the fruits and vegetables that end up on our tables. They help revitalize blighted and economically depressed commercial corridors with their small businesses. They are also easy to demonize and scapegoat whenever politicians need to find someone to blame.

    There is a stunning hypocrisy in the Trump administration’s claim that it is righteously enforcing the law to protect America from immigrants, even as it engages in the kind of lawlessness that truly endangers the union. The government has clearly violated the Constitution, denying due process to immigrants it has accused of serious crimes and summarily deported to foreign prisons renowned for torture.

    The president also continues to coyly ignore the courts, endorse U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents hiding their identity and acting like de facto secret police, and flirts with disaster by entangling troops trained for deadly combat in civilian law enforcement surrounding immigration protests.

    Those protests are only expected to grow, yet Trump is fanning the flames, extending his dangerous dehumanizing rhetoric from immigrants to those who would defend them. During a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday, the president called protesters in Los Angeles “animals” and a “foreign enemy.”

    “We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again,” he told gathered soldiers, in a deeply troubling display of politicizing the military.

    Philadelphia has already been targeted by the administration as a “sanctuary city,” and ICE tactical teams are reportedly on their way. What happens if Trump decides the city also needs to be “liberated”?

    While we must all continue to demand that the courts and Congress hold the president accountable for any abuses, elected officials must do all they can within the law to protect all Philadelphians — including immigrants.

    A government that is allowed to run roughshod over the rights of some will not hesitate to trample the rights of all.

  • Pa. voters sent John Fetterman to represent them in the Senate. On most days, he has other ideas. | Editorial

    Pa. voters sent John Fetterman to represent them in the Senate. On most days, he has other ideas. | Editorial

    Whither John Fetterman?

    It seems Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. senator enjoys the perks of high office but is less interested in doing the actual job.

    He has missed more votes than nearly every other senator in the past two years. He regularly skips committee hearings, cancels meetings, avoids the daily caucus lunches with colleagues, and rarely goes on the Senate floor.

    Fetterman, a first-term Democrat, is also following the path of Republican elected officials by not holding town halls with constituents for fear of being heckled.

    A string of Fetterman staffers have left his office, including his chief of staff, top communications aides, and legislative director. Several current and former staffers voiced concern about Fetterman’s mental and physical health, according to a report in New York Magazine.

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    Fetterman dismissed the report as a single-source “hit piece.” But several media outlets confirmed Fetterman’s erratic behavior through multiple sources, including The Inquirer.

    In one instance, Fetterman lashed out at members of the teachers’ union who pressed him regarding cuts to federal education. He reportedly banged his fist on the table and yelled at the group.

    Six former Fetterman staffers told Inquirer reporter Julia Terruso that Fetterman was frequently absent or spent hours alone in his office, avoiding colleagues and meetings.

    “It’s pretty impossible to overstate how disengaged he is,” one recently departed staffer said.

    Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022 while running for Senate. After winning the election, he underwent treatment for clinical depression, citing a “dark time” and struggles to get out of bed.

    Fetterman bravely confronted physical and mental health challenges, but has checked out of his Senate duties at a time when all elected officials must stand up to Donald Trump’s naked authoritarianism, corruption, and incompetence.

    John Prenis holds a sign at Independence Mall during Indivisible Philadelphia’s demonstration and march from Independence Mall to Sen. John Fetterman’s office at Second and Chestnut Streets on May 9.

    To be sure, mental health is a serious issue and not something to ignore. If Fetterman is still struggling, then he should seek immediate help.

    Instead, Fetterman complained people have “weaponized” his mental health battles against him.

    Being an elected official comes with public scrutiny. If Fetterman can’t handle the attention or perform his job, then in the best interest of the country and the nearly 13 million residents of Pennsylvania he represents, he should step aside.

    After all, being an elected representative is a privilege, not an entitlement. Being a U.S. senator is a serious job that requires full-time engagement.

    If Fetterman wants to continue to serve, then he must take his position seriously. He showed up for his first Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee meeting of the year in May and admitted he was shamed into attending by the media.

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    Fetterman dismissed his skipping out on the committee work and procedural votes as a “performative” waste of time.

    He said his chronic absenteeism was a product of his decision to spend more time at home with his children and his father, who suffered a recent heart attack.

    “I would go visit my dad instead of a throwaway vote,” he told the New York Times.

    Spending time with family is laudable, but if that is his priority, then Fetterman should get a job closer to one of the eight properties he owns in his hometown of Braddock, Pa.

    Senators often work long nights in Washington. But they also have flexible schedules and enjoy plenty of time off from Washington, since there are only an average of 165 legislative days.

    Many of Fetterman’s constituents would like to work half a year so they, too, could spend time with their families. Safe to say, many would do it for less than Fetterman’s salary of $174,000, which is more than double the nation’s median household income.

    Sen. John Fetterman speaks to a reporter near the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington in March.

    That doesn’t include the $172,500 advance Fetterman received to write a book with former Inquirer reporter Buzz Bissinger, or the $34,000 tax-free pay bump senators can claim for gas, food, and lodging while on official business in Washington.

    Or the generous pensions and healthcare coverage senators receive — something most Pennsylvanians do not enjoy. Or the lifetime access to the U.S. Capitol gym and Senate dining room. Or the support staff of around 60 to help each senator do their job.

    Being a U.S. senator also requires a lot of travel — mainly across their home state to hear from their constituents. The late Sen. Arlen Specter routinely crisscrossed Pennsylvania, visiting all 67 counties every two years and holding 400 town hall meetings. That’s what public service looks like.

    Fetterman has not had much time for Washington or Pennsylvania. But he found time to jet down to Mar-a-Lago to schmooze with Trump, who he said “was kind,” “fascinating,” and “a commonsense person.”

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    Fetterman has flown to Israel twice in the past year, including a recent all-expense-paid junket to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of war crimes and corruption. He and his wife flew first class and stayed in five-star hotels as part of a fact-finding mission that cost $36,000 and was paid for by a New York-based nonprofit.

    Fetterman finds time to regularly appear on Fox News and other TV talk shows, while also seeming preoccupied with his social media profile.

    “He’s taken two all-expenses-paid trips to Israel, but can’t drive down the street and hold a town hall,” a former staffer told the Intercept.

    Other senators travel overseas but also show up for work in Washington and meet with constituents in their home state. Public service is not about serving yourself.

    It’s time for Fetterman to serve Pennsylvanians, or step away.