Will seriously ill inmates have a place to go?

Re: “California halts medical parole, sends some critically ill patients back to prison” (April 26).

Officials are anticipating increasing use of the compassionate release program.

Inmates so debilitated, including those with mental illness, that they are no longer deemed dangerous to society, can be released into society. Just where will these people be released? Do they have relatives prepared to care for them? Will they be like those Reagan released from state mental facilities in the 1960s, who became the homeless on our streets, for whom the city and county agencies had to assume care?

This information was a major omission in the article.

— Rosemary Everett, Campbell

Ukraine war a road we shouldn’t have taken

A road not taken: That’s when you look back and see that you made a decision that turned out to be catastrophic later on. We can all see this in Ukraine.

Before the Russian invasion, there had been the Minsk ll accord, which was sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council and guaranteed by the U.S., France and Germany, and of course, Ukraine and Russia. That had Ukraine allowing a degree of autonomy to the contested areas in eastern Ukraine, which would remain in Ukraine, along with suspending any thoughts of NATO membership and looking at the status of Crimea for future negotiations. Unfortunately, our side had no intention of following that plan, as Chancellor Angela Merkel later stated.

Look at today’s reality. 20% of Ukraine under Russian control, terrible death and destruction for all concerned, and little chance of NATO membership to boot. Now talk about “A Road Not Taken.”

— Mike Caggiano, San Mateo

Steeped in social media, kids are bound to suffer

Re: “Social media’s ‘big tobacco’ moment looms” (April 20).

As a child who grew up with the internet and was sadly exposed to harmful narratives at an early age, I fear that future generations are worse off than I am.

Children nowadays are forced to be in front of screens for class, as well as spending time on their phones when they get home. I started to notice that I have become more comfortable interacting with people through screens than I am through physical contact. I’m a college student now who has at least had a childhood of physical contact, but I’m terrified of the mental state of children younger than me.

I agree that we should start pushing social media companies to put empathy over engagement. Yet the blame isn’t entirely theirs. I believe that we are also to blame. We have relied on our screens too much, and our children are simply mimicking us.

— Emily Gusman Lopez, Santa Clara