False kidnapping charge was an outrage
I was glad to see charges against Mahendra Patel have been dropped in the alleged kidnapping case. (“Cobb drops charges in alleged kidnapping,” AJC, Aug. 7)
It is an outrage that this poor gentleman spent more than six weeks in jail. Not mentioned in the article was that Patel was astonished to see the woman in the motorized wheelchair (“scooter”) rise out of her chair holding her child. He had assumed that anyone in one of those vehicles was disabled, never imagining someone would use them to give their children a “joy ride”!
He tried to help her when she rose from the vehicle holding her child. Instead of realizing that Patel was trying to help her and prevent a “disabled woman” from dropping her child, she accused him of attempted kidnapping. The woman was setting a terrible example for her children, accusing someone falsely and teaching them that it is perfectly OK for able-bodied adults and children to use something intended for those with mobility issues.
BETSY RIVARD, ATLANTA
Voting Rights Act will have long future
I read “Voting Rights Act at 60: Under threat” (AJC, Aug. 7) in its entirety, trying to discover who is being wrongfully denied the right to vote. The article expressed trepidation about the future of voting rights but gave no examples of voting being suppressed. Instead, it focused on the drawing of voting districts and who has “a right to sue over potential violation of voters’ constitutional rights.”
Among the concerns was one by unidentified “voting rights experts” saying two pending Supreme Court cases “will largely determine whether (the Voting Rights Act) will have future anniversaries to mark.” I assume the Act’s feared demise is a close relative of Democrats’ much-proclaimed death of democracy.
During the article’s hand-wringing over the “coulds” and “mights” regarding the survival of the Act’s voter protections, it also laments the practice of gerrymandering. But that practice, initially applied to Massachusetts Senate election districts in the early 1800s, has survived for over 200 years. So, the lifespan of ingrained political practices indicates there’s a chance the Voting Rights Act will see additional anniversaries.
GREGORY MARSHALL, MARIETTA
Trump punishes the homeless
The upward creep of rents is driving increasing numbers of people into homelessness, many of them people over 50 who have never been homeless before.
Trump’s answer to this problem is to declare all homeless people to be either mentally ill or drug addicted and force them into institutions. This is his punishment for anyone daring to be old and poor in an increasingly harsh economic environment.
This is yet another hate-filled hip shot by the Boy King, arrived at in a flash of inspiration without any research or consultation with experts. And Mike Johnson loves him for it.
DEAN POIRIER, LILBURN
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
