Letters to the Editor: Pretrial detention, climate impacts, and local community issues — June 24, 2026

I'm joining Andrew Reding's call in his guest commentary for local elected officials to have the political courage to reduce unnecessary pretrial detention and invest in solutions that keep people out of jail in the first place.

The Whatcom County Jail has been overcapacity since 1989, five years after it opened.

I work remotely on justice and safety issues in Memphis, Tennessee. I was struck by how we're having almost identical conversations about justice reform across the country.