Bad nuns

Of all the elements that make up the Catholic church in the US, I am most sympathetic towards the nuns. In their modern incarnation, they seem to do genuine good works among the poor and needy and seem less interested in pushing the church’s official positions against contraception, abortion, and homosexuality, for which lack of zeal they were reprimanded and placed under investigation by pope Benedict though pope Francis has quietly shelved that process.
[Read more…]

Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation outlawed?

Although the legalization of same-sex marriage is a huge advance, it has been pointed out that one is still allowed to discriminate against members of the LGBT community when it comes to employment, housing, and others areas of life where it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, or national origin. This was seen as the next frontier in achieving equal rights.
[Read more…]

The incredibly rapid evolution on gay rights

The nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage by the US Supreme Court just over a week ago signals an extremely rapid transition in views indeed. However the struggle for the rights of the LGBT community has by no means ended. They still face all manner of discriminations. Yes, they can get married (even though some jurisdictions are still obstructing it) but they can still be legally not hired or fired from their jobs for being homosexual, they can be denied the right to rent a home, and so on. One would like to think that all those things would also move rapidly now that the big hurdle of marriage has been overcome but it may be that the dead-enders who dislike homosexuality may dig in their heels and even more vigorously oppose those moves to full equality.
[Read more…]

Using RFRA to legalize marijuana use

We have seen how religious individuals and groups are using the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and state versions of it to try and avoid complying with laws that they feel infringe on their religious beliefs, such as issuing same-sex marriage licenses or providing contraceptive benefits in health insurance polices or selling various goods and services to the public.
[Read more…]

Will the persecution of Christians by unelected judges never end?

It was bad enough that on June 26, a day that will live in infamy, the US Supreme Court rammed same-sex marriage down the throats of righteous Christians, but just four days later the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled by a 7-2 margin in the case of Prescott et al. v. Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission that the Ten Commandments monument that was placed on the state capital grounds in 2012 has got to go. (I had not been aware that someone drove a car into the old monument last November and wrecked it and a new one was constructed and put up this January.)
[Read more…]

Is the case for polygamy as strong as for same-sex marriage?

Opponents of same-sex marriage warned of dire consequences if they were legalized, that pressure would build to make polygamy also legal and people would demand the right to marry their children or siblings or their pets. Now that the Supreme Court has authorized such marriages in the Obergefell ruling, they may decide to show that their warnings were not mere hyperbole and test that proposition by making such marriage license requests.
[Read more…]

Two more (short-term) victories at the Supreme Court

The religious right has been successful at chipping away at the right of women to get abortions and contraceptives, putting in one restriction after another. The US Supreme Court has generally gone along with these moves but at the very end of the past term the court issued two rulings that, at least in the short term, seemed to go the other way.
[Read more…]

Why some Supreme Court decisions take so long

The last three days of the Supreme Court saw seven important opinions being released, including those on Obamacare, same-sex marriage, the death penalty, environmental regulation, and redistricting. In previous years too, major opinions were released at the very end and one issue that has come up for discussion is whether the justices deliberately keep the high-profile rulings until the end of the term.
[Read more…]

Is the Supreme Court liberal or conservative?

Despite the victories in the same-sex marriage and Obamacare cases, the general impression that people have is that the US Supreme Court is ideologically conservative. The meaning of labels like ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ and ‘left’ and ‘right’ are notoriously hard to pin down and are operationally elusive and I would love to be able to avoid them but cannot because they do provide a rough but convenient shorthand description for a general attitude, and thus avoids having to provide detailed descriptions.
[Read more…]