A JUDGE’S REVERSAL OF MASK MANDATES
0A Judge’s Reversal of Mask Mandates
To the Editor: Re “Judge Rescinds Mask Mandate for Passengers” (front page. April 19): A federal judge who was deemed “not qualified” by the American Bar Association has just struck down the C.D.C.’s mask mandate on public transportation. in the name of reinstating lost freedoms. More than being angered by this ludicrous decision. however. I’m deeply saddened by our simple lack of heart for our fellow citizens. Do Americans really not care about their parents. grandparents or those like me who are immunocompromised. who will now be virtually unable to fly? It hurts. The administration must back up the C.D.C.’s authority and appeal this decision. At the least. airports should offer special areas for those who need to wear N95s and are fearful of exposure to unmasked crowds. Lisa Plymate Seattle The writer is a retired internist and geriatrician. To the Editor: A single Federal District Court judge in Florida has vacated a nationwide C.D.C. order requiring mask wearing on planes and on mass transit. I have no opinion of the correctness of her legal analysis. However. Federal District Court trial judges should not have the power to issue nationwide stays or injunctions. Putting this extraordinary power in the hands of a single district court judge does nothing but encourage judge shopping by litigants. particularly special interest groups. I am certain the founding fathers never envisioned that such power would reside in a single trial judge. This power has been abused by both the left and the right as special interest groups seek a favorable forum in which to challenge laws and agency rules and regulations. It is time for Congress to address this issue and limit the geographic reach of district court orders. To the Editor: I’ll believe that the airline executives at United. Delta. Southwest and American are doing the right thing for us passengers and their employees by suspending their mask requirements when I see those executives flying coach on a crowded plane. maskless. Rick Weiss Los Altos Hills. Calif. The Generosity of MacKenzie Scott To the Editor: Accolades to Ms. Scott. former wife of Amazon’s founder. Jeff Bezos. for giving away $12 billion of her $50 billion fortune since 2020 and for pledging to “keep at it until the safe is empty.” She has given large gifts to Habitat for Humanity ($436 million) and Planned Parenthood ($275 million). She has given to underrepresented people. including groups led by women. people of color and L.G.B.T.Q. people. Her gifts also reflect her concern with climate change. education and. recently. Ukraine relief. Her generosity and humanitarianism are in stark contrast to so many superwealthy people who never seem to have enough. who are forever concerned about their taxes. Can MacKenzie Scott inspire other ultrawealthy people to be more generous and humanitarian and less fixated on self aggrandizement? Inconsistent on Refugees To the Editor: Over the past few years. I have been to Lebanon several times to help provide art therapy for Syrian refugee children. Last month. I was in Ukraine and Poland providing art therapy for Ukrainian children. Young children exposed to the trauma of war are at high risk of developing PTSD. Even if they did not see the violence. they can develop PTSD from what their family members have been through. Art and play therapy help them cope and heal. I have felt conflicted about how different our global response to the refugee crisis in Ukraine. where many of the children have blue eyes and blond hair and identify as Christians. has been. I have provided art therapy for them just as we have for Syrian children in Beirut. Many of my little Picassos in Beirut are now young adults. Because they have brown eyes. olive skin and are Muslim. they did not receive the same level of love and concern from the West. As we care for the Ukrainian mothers and children. please consider also supporting the Syrian children. many of whom have been waiting for...
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