We cannot make life entirely safe and risk free. Terrorism is flashy and scary, and looping images of it over and over again boosts TV ratings. But surely our leaders, our media, our resources and our minds should focus on real health and safety risks.
Eight-year-olds do not belong in our criminal justice system. Young children are not capable of forming criminal intent, just like they are not legally capable of entering into a contract, or getting a driver’s license, or signing a will, or literally anything else. And now we’re charging one with murder?
Houston, Texas overturned its antidiscrimination ordinance in a referendum. The law had prohibited discrimination based on fifteen protected categories, including gender identity. But the supposed menace of men faking transgender status to assault women in bathrooms proved too powerful to overcome.
Most of us have committed a petty legal infraction like walking a dog without a leash, making an illegal left turn, etc. You don’t go to jail for these offenses. You’re just hit with an annoying ticket and fine. But in many states you go to jail if you can’t pay those fees—the new, unconstitutional debtor’s prisons, the latest assault on the American poor.
Last term, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the “equal protection” clause of the Constitution with a modern, progressive read in requiring all 50 states to recognize same sex marriage. This term, might the Court give a similarly enlightened read to the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment and ban the death penalty? It’s a long shot, but already two of the nine justices are signaling they are ready to shut down capital punishment in America.
The American Bar Association calls for a halt on enacting more Stand Your Ground laws, and a repeal of laws currently on the books. It also calls for clearer jury instructions, which may have helped in the George Zimmerman trial. Its recommendations are based on fact and reason and should be supported by all Americans who value equality, nonviolence and the preciousness of human life.
It’s deeply disturbing that, if taken at their word, some Republican presidential candidates would undo so many long-held American principles so firmly enshrined into our laws and history. Religious tolerance, equality of all people, separation of powers—these define us as a people. While we have many shortcomings, these are values of which we can truly be proud. And each of these candidates seeks the presidency, an office that would require them upon taking office to swear an oath to support the very Constitution of the United States with which they have so often disagree. Perhaps they will take issue with that Constitutional requirement as well?
Of all the inventive methods used to create fear toward People Who Aren’t Like Us, the specter of mixed-use bathrooms is, historically, one of the more common.
As you probably know by now, Kim Davis, the elected County Clerk for Rowan, Kentucky, responded to the US Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision requiring all fifty states to recognize same-sex marriages by not only refusing to process applications for gay weddings, but by refusing to process ANY marriage applications. This slick “see, I’m not discriminating!” approach is sadly reminiscent of counties in the South that shut down public swimming pools during the civil rights era rather than comply with court orders requiring racial integration. Didn’t fly then. Doesn’t fly now.
In New Hampshire, a young man faces multiple charges of sexual assault arising out of an incident at an elite private high school, St. Paul’s School. The school boasts graduates like Secretary of State John Kerry, former FBI Director Robert Mueller. Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau and thirteen U.S. ambassadors, three Pulitzer Prize winners, two World Series of Poker winners, actor Judd Nelson and sons of the Astor and Kennedy families, according to the school’s website.