SCOTUS 2013 Key Decisions

As the Supreme Court nears the end of its term, the judicial-minded have waited with baited breath for each new decision the Court hands down. Today, history was made - SCOTUS ruled the Defense of Marriage Act's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

Around the country, proponents of civil rights broadly and same-sex marriage specifically rejoiced - the Court has finally issued a sane, progressive opinion in line with public opinion. Not to say that SCOTUS should abide by public opinion, but in this case, the writing was on the wall - blatant discrimination is not tolerated. It is a huge step forward for gay rights, and a nod to the younger generation's feelings about sexuality - that it is only the business of the people involved. 

Several Republican members of Congress responded with statements along the lines of "this belittles traditional marriage," and "I hope the states define marriage as being only between a man and a woman" - but the Court and the country have spoken out against bigotry.

Unfortunately, while this area of civil rights benefited from a huge step forward, other areas haven't been so lucky.  Yesterday, the Court overturned a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 - the nine states that had been required to attain advance federal approval before making changes to their voting laws (originally intended to prevent Southern state governments from enacting laws that would make it more difficult for African Americans to register to and cast their votes) may now make changes to their voting laws immediately. 

In her dissent, Justice Ginsberg cited several instances of Voting Rights Act violations (view them in this summary) that have occurred in the past 15-20 years - from southern city councils trying to postpone elections to prevent African Americans from being elected to attempted gerrymandering to decrease the impact of the Hispanic vote.

It is interesting that the Court majority feels that the country has changed, when there are so many instances of voting violations in recent years. Chief Justice Roberts, the majority opinion author, clarified that it is the data on which current enforcement of the Voting Rights Act is based that needs to be updated, and that Congress may vote to impose new federal oversight with current data. It remains to be seen whether or not Congress will feel compelled to act on this - judging by its recent lack of productivity, though, it seems unlikely.

One can only hope that this will not have as severe ramifications of disenfranchisement as predicted.

Stop legislating choice

Slate posted an article this morning about a proposed federal abortion ban after 20 weeks. The proposed legislation makes only one exception - if the mother has a life-endangering physical condition. No allowances for rape or incest are included.

One Texas lawmaker advocated for a ban after 20 weeks because he once witnessed a 15-week old male fetus masterbating, and "if a fetus can feel pain, it can certainly feel pleasure." When explaining his objection to abortion in the case of rape or incest, another lawmaker said "because, you know, the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.

First of all, this is absurd. Using masterbation as a justification against abortion boggles the mind, - what does one have to do with the other? The comment about pregnancy after rape really just serves to convince me that our nation's lawmakers need a sexual education class - perhaps they all missed those lessons in high school, but pregnancy can happen any time a man and a woman have unprotected intercourse. End of story.

This is another instance of [generally] conservative, male lawmakers trying to interfere with a woman's sexual and reproductive health. Aside from misplaced religious beliefs, the main motivation from this seems to be a persistent and purposeful misunderstanding of things they cannot experience themselves.  It is suspicious that only women's health is targeted - no other health care providers or concerns are so heavily legislated and debated.

We Plant Trees

If you've ever seen the movie Keeping the Faith, you know it's about a priest and a rabbi who were best friends growing up (and remained best friends as adults in their respective religious leadership positions).

Today, I found out that an elderly relative passed away.  I thought of this exchange between the priest and the rabbi:

• Priest:     What do you want me to do, flagellate myself?
  Rabbi:    Jews don't do that. We-- We plant trees.

Planting trees have a lot of symbolism in Judaism, from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden to the "Tree of Life" found in many synagogues with commemorative and memorial leaves honoring significant life events or lives as a whole.  Jews often symbolically plant trees in Israel to commemorate births, b'nai mitzvoht, and to honor our loved ones, as planting a tree to benefits the future generations the way we have benefitted from past generations' tree planting.

As the rabbi in the movie says, when Jewish people experience a significant life cycle event (including a death), planting a tree can also help bring peace to the family dealing with the death.  Family members participate in the planting itself - a distraction - and their act provides future generations both a living memorial of the past and the benefits of having a tree - be it fruit, shade, or the wood of which it is composed.
 
Here's to you, Uncle Archie - rest in peace.

When work is rewarding

Looking through this admittedly sparsely populated blog, I came across a post I wrote in 2010 evaluating what I like and dislike in a job. Namely, I liked being responsible for a variety of tasks, as well as being able to provide clients with real, influential advice based on research, experience, and/or industry knowledge. I also noted my dislike for "useless busy work" that no one cares about and that accomplishes nothing.

Almost three years after writing this, as I again consider what I want in a job, my earlier insights about what I find rewarding in a job still hold true.  I've gained more consulting experience and worked with a wider variety of clients and organizations, I know more specifically the type of consulting work I like to do - and it still entails having a variety of different types of tasks to complete in a given day or week, helping address various types of client challenges. 

As long as I know that my work is being valued and having an impact, I know I'm doing good work. Conversely, when that shifts to being more repetitive tasks, more excel formatting than original thought generation, the work product is far less meaningful and rewarding. 

There is a lot to be said for creativity, be it through artistic expression or analyzing a new topic. The greater the ability to think outside the box, the more we are able to grow and evolve within our jobs, and the more inspired we are to do so.  We spend the majority of our days and weeks at our places of employment. The more mentally stimulated we are, the more enjoyable the experience.