How will we respond to the pandemic?
This nation needs to temper our nationalistic instincts and hyper-partisanship. We need to make both short-term and long-term policy decisions guided by what science tells us about the world we live in.
Judge Kevin S. Burke
Civil liberties and racial disparities: It’s time to rethink police’s use of vehicle stops
We need a renewed dedication to take responsible steps to eliminate racial disparity in the criminal justice system.
The Kerner Commission: 50 years later, what has — and has not — changed?
Is there a brighter future ahead? Social change does not happen easily. Ingrained attitudes that produce institutional racism are hard for people to overcome.
Funding for medical research needs vigorous champions
President Trump’s 2018 budget proposed that the National Cancer Institute would be reduced by $1 billion compared to its 2017 budget and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute would see a $575 million cut.
Natural hurricanes bring humane responses. But how do we deal with the manmade hurricane of racial bigotry?
The hurricane that is bearing down on our values is every bit as dangerous as Irma and Harvey.
Could Atticus Finch get elected?
Representing unpopular clients has a long tradition in the American legal system, yet a web video criticizes Tim Kaine for the clients he represented in court.
What should we think about Donald Trump’s thoughts about judges?
Our nation has a long history of political figures brutally attacking judges. Politicians often take advantage of controversial decisions for political gain. But perhaps this one is different.
Choosing the rule of law: a tribute to the Miranda decision
This year our nation marks the 50th anniversary of perhaps one of the best-known U.S. Supreme Court cases, Miranda v. Arizona.
On replacing Scalia: ‘Do it later’ is not in the text of the Constitution
Justice Antonin Scalia looked for “what is the fairly understood meaning” of the Constitution’s text. How would he have suggested replacing himself?
U.S. panic and demagoguery over the arrival of vulnerable children betray a great nation’s values
Demonizing these children may make for good sound bites, but it is wrong — just as it was wrong in 1939 to send the passengers of the St. Louis back to Europe.
World should deliver to Nigerian girls’ kidnappers the dad’s message in film ‘Taken’ — and mean it
“If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t …”
Maybe the War on Poverty was the wrong metaphor
Perhaps what is needed now is not surrender or retreat in the War on Poverty. It’s a new, energizing metaphor.
The canary in the Supreme Court coal mine
Former Sen. David Durenburger wrote, “What continues to amaze about red/blue, either/or politics in this country is the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court is buying the program as well.”
Happy anniversary, Clarence Gideon
Fifty years ago this week the U.S Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Gideon v. Wainwright. The case had a unique Minnesota connection.
McGovern and his daughter Terry: What we can learn
Perhaps what all of us can best learn from Sen. George McGovern is the need to better understand mental illness and chemical dependency.
