Inside the Capitol

By: David Crawford, Michael Hanby and Margaret Harper McCarthy

The commonplace assumption of American liberalism, that courts merely preside over contests of rights, conceals the limitless power of the judiciary to decide questions of truth without thinking deeply or even honestly about them. Bostock v. Clayton County is a case in point. Justice Gorsuch claims, in writing for the majority, that the Court’s decision to include LGBT identity under Title VII’s definition of “sex” is a narrow ruling about “sex discrimination” in employment, leaving concerns like locker rooms and religious liberty for future litigation. 

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Our families have emerged as many people’s primary community during the COVID-19 pandemic. This fits the family’s natural role in society, but the change has not been easy. Many families have experienced new challenges amid COVID-19.

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On March 25, St. John Paul II’s landmark papal letter “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”) marked its 25th anniversary. Addressing society’s devolving opinion on issues such as abortion, contraception and euthanasia, “Evangelium Vitae” resoundingly reaffirmed the dignity of each person and emphasized the Church’s role in upholding the primacy of life.

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The unprecedented scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing efforts to provide critical hospital care have raised serious questions about rationing (limiting access) based on disability or age. Although, like everything else, health care is subject to the problem of scarcity, principles exist for determining the appropriate allocation of medical resources, especially during a pandemic.

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In his homily during the “Extraordinary Moment of Prayer” March 27, Pope Francis addressed the Lord Jesus this way: “You are calling on us to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing. It is not the time of your judgment, but of our judgment: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to you, Lord, and to others.”

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Legalizing recreational marijuana is a major issue for consideration during Minnesota’s 2020 legislative session. Many worry that legislators and the public have not fully realized the negative consequences that would likely follow legalization.

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The U. S. Supreme Court is currently deliberating a case involving a Montana state constitutional provision steeped in historic anti-Catholic bigotry. The justices’ decision could drastically impact the future of school choice programs across the country.

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When the painting “Father Hennepin Discovering the Falls of St. Anthony” (1905), along with another painting depicting the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, was removed from its central position in the Governor’s Reception Room of the Capitol to an out-of-the-way meeting space on the third floor, it was an attempt to recast Minnesota history as one born in white supremacy (with the coming of Christianity supposedly a part of that legacy) to tell instead a new story about the diverse state we are today.

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