February 23, 2011. A letter was sent from the attorney general to Congress saying, “The President and I have concluded that classifications based on sexual orientation warrant heightened scrutiny and that, as applied to same-sex couples legally married under state law, Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional.” The editorial staff of the New York Times posted their own article the same day regarding the ruling, displaying their disdain towards the "blatant discrimination" shown against gay and lesbian relationships by the Defense of Marriage Act. They made statements such as "Congress's shabby violation of constitutional rights" and "prejudice suffered by gay men and lesbians". With statements like those, it is thought that they are either for homosexual relations or for love in all shapes and forms in general regardless of what it normally looks like. The audience would definitely be people that are also for further equality for all. My stance on this, outside of the ruling itself, is that I am also for equality in its entirety. However, part of me is a little weary of such advancements only because of the beliefs instilled within me by the Christian-based society I continue to grow within. Still, reading the comments to the article on such advancements for homosexuals and equality overall is heart-warming and has me "constantly evolving" as Obama put it.
Although the article is only a short paragraph, it brought so many thoughts to mind regarding life and death in the prison system. As you see above, it is said that the FDA (food and drug administration) is being sued over execution drugs. They have been allowing state corrections officials to import and use a sedative called sodium thiopental in their execution drug cocktails. Apparently, the drug had not been approved to be used amongst the other drugs in those cocktails. Now, I’m sure these officials go about dealing with inmates in ways we would never think of, but we unknowingly go along with. Yet, the questions I have are: Why would it matter if the drug is approved or not if the end result is death? Does this unapproved drug make dying worse than it should be for a person deserving of death? As I said before, the article is short. Still, a quick skim through it may open up conversation about the quality of life (and death) for inmates that citizens tend to care less about unless they have been in it or know someone in it.
February 23, 2011. A letter was sent from the attorney general to Congress saying, “The President and I have concluded that classifications based on sexual orientation warrant heightened scrutiny and that, as applied to same-sex couples legally married under state law, Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional.” The editorial staff of the New York Times posted their own article the same day regarding the ruling, displaying their disdain towards the "blatant discrimination" shown against gay and lesbian relationships by the Defense of Marriage Act. They made statements such as "Congress's shabby violation of constitutional rights" and "prejudice suffered by gay men and lesbians". With statements like those, it is thought that they are either for homosexual relations or for love in all shapes and forms in general regardless of what it normally looks like. The audience would definitely be people that are also for further equality for all. My stance on this, outside of the ruling itself, is that I am also for equality in its entirety. However, part of me is a little weary of such advancements only because of the beliefs instilled within me by the Christian-based society I continue to grow within. Still, reading the comments to the article on such advancements for homosexuals and equality overall is heart-warming and has me "constantly evolving" as Obama put it.
