Too often, Baltimore’s problems don’t really exist

Crime in Baltimore City is real. Problems in Baltimore’s criminal justice system are real. But too often, what are claimed as “problems” simply do not exist.

An example is a conclusory claim in the recent op-ed concerning expungements (“We need more expungements, not less,” April 19). Offered as proof of racial injustice in plea bargaining is the following: “Among those who have their charges reduced during arraignment or disposition, white defendants are systematically offered more charge reductions than Black or Latinx defendants.” While this is no doubt true in many jurisdictions, it is demonstrably false in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

Recently, academics from the University of Maryland and Harvard University investigated racial justice in Baltimore prosecutions. They analyzed all criminal cases in the Baltimore City Circuit Court during 2017 and 2018 to determine, among other things, whether the number of charges filed and convicted vary by race. They found “no evidence of racial disparity in the average number of charges filed or in the number of final conviction charges.” (Final Report on Racial Justice in Prosecution in Baltimore, February 2022, page 35).

Particularly now, when the governor, the legislature, the mayor, the police commissioner, the candidates for Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, and this newspaper all have plans to address Baltimore’s criminal justice problems, it is important to ask what evidence, if any, supports the particular problems they claim to exist.

— Michael Schatzow, Baltimore

Pitts leaves out key cause of media mistrust: bias

In a recent column, Leonard Pitts Jr. diagnoses what he sees as a loss of a common national identity (“We’ve lost the willingness to share common national identity,” April 19). He lays this loss directly at the feet of Republicans who “trust almost no mainstream source of information.”

Unfortunately, he is either unable or unwilling to identify one of the major causes of the mistrust of the mainstream media: the inherent and undeniable bias therein.

News and opinion consumers are not stupid. They can clearly see how the slant in news coverage all too often favors one side of the political spectrum.

Mr. Pitts does not consider how often major media outlets get stories completely wrong (the discredited Steele dossier) or, perhaps worse, actively ignore or suppress news (Hunter Biden’s laptop). These items are only a few on a lengthy list of egregious examples that contribute to the very polarization the Mr. Pitts decries.

Many major media outlets consist almost entirely of people from one increasingly narrow side of the political spectrum. There is an antidote: an injection of diversity of political thought into newsrooms.

Before you can fix a problem, you must admit the problem exists. Mr. Pitts (like many others in the mainstream media) seems incapable of admitting the obvious problem. Before Mr. Pitts rails against the disease of public mistrust of the media, he would do well to remember the Biblical admonition: “Physician, heal thyself.”

— Bruce Ickes, Parkville

Stadium funds are ‘big win’ for Baltimore

Congratulations to Tom Kelso, chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) and to MSA staff for successfully leading the effort that resulted in passage and signing of legislation that provides up to $1.2 billion for future improvements to the two stadiums at the Camden Yards Sports Complex. (“Maryland Gov. Hogan signs dozens of just passed, including $1.2 billion for Orioles, Ravens stadium improvements,” April 12).

This is a big win for Baltimore City, the Greater Baltimore Region, the state of Maryland and all other stakeholders!

This is particularly gratifying to me. In 1979, I joined the Orioles Designated Hitters (DH) Club, a volunteer group founded to help the Orioles establish financial stabilization through the sale of season tickets. The success of the DH club and other factors were instrumental in Edward Bennett Williams and Larry Lucchino’s decision to keep the Orioles in Baltimore. This resulted in the formation of the Maryland Stadium Authority, the Orioles signing a 30 year lease and the subsequent building of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The recently enacted legislation should facilitate both the Ravens and Orioles staying in Baltimore.

— Bill JonesThe writer is past president and CEO of The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore.