Issue Jul-10-15 - The Week Magazine (2024)

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NEWSA historic ruling on gay marriageWhat happenedCulminating one of the most rapid cultural changes in U.S. history, the Supreme Court last week struck down state bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, making gay unions legal in all 50 states. The historic decision set off jubilant celebrations across the country, as gay couples rushed to secure marriage licenses and the rainbow colors of the gay pride movement were projected onto the White House. Writing for the 5-4 majority in Obergefell v. Hodges, Justice Anthony Kennedy said every American had a constitutional right to marry and form a family. Denying same-sex couples that right, he wrote, deprives them of the “equal dignity” they deserve. Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, was supported by the four liberal justices. The four conservative members all dissented, each writing a separate scathing…4 min

NEWSGreece on the brinkFears were growing this week that Greece could be forced to leave the Eurozone, after the country missed a crucial debt payment and its leftist prime minister sparred with international creditors over desperately needed bailout cash. Months of talks between Alexis Tsipras—who was swept to power earlier this year on an anti-austerity wave—and International Monetary Fund and Eurozone officials broke down last week after the Greek leader spurned a deal to extend a $265 billion bailout package that required new tax hikes and spending cuts. Tsipras abruptly scheduled a national referendum on the deal and called for Greeks to reject it.Without new foreign loans to prop up Athens’ accounts, Greece missed a $1.7 billion payment to the IMF—the first time a developed country had missed a payment to the lender.…2 min

NEWSJustices clash on death penaltyA bitter death penalty dispute erupted at the Supreme Court this week as the justices narrowly upheld the use of the lethal injection drug midazolam—rejecting claims that the sedative could leave death row inmates alert enough to suffer excruciating pain. Midazolam was used in three problematic executions last year, including that of Clayton Lockett, who writhed on a gurney for 43 minutes before suffering a fatal heart attack. Writing for the 5-4 majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the plaintiffs had failed to prove the method violated the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In a scathing dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused the court of sanctioning “the chemical equivalent of being burned alive.” Justice Stephen Breyer went further, arguing that justices should now consider the “basic question” of whether the…2 min

NEWSTHE WEEKWhen I look back at my adolescent self, I see a lot to be ashamed of. There were the terrible haircuts and unflattering baggy clothes, the girls I didn’t ask out and the bullies I never stood up to. But what stings most is the realization that the teenage me was a raging hom*ophobe. Growing up in a small English town in the 1980s and ’90s, it was accepted knowledge that gays and lesbians were perverts and weirdos. My classmates and I taunted one another with hom*ophobic insults, and teachers seemed unconcerned about our antigay attitudes. hom*ophobia was an easy prejudice to hold, because while there were always rumors about someone in the community being gay, none of us actually knew anyone who was out. Then at 18, I headed…1 min

NEWSThe GOP: Time to move on from the culture war?As the dust settles from a truly “momentous week” in U.S. history, said Charlie Cook in NationalJournal.com, “one thing is increasingly clear: The Republican Party needs to change.” Angry conservatives may think their greatest problem is the “activist” Supreme Court that last week upheld Obamacare, again, and then legalized gay marriage nationwide. But this familiar griping about black-robed tyrants misses the bigger picture. On issue after issue, from health-care reform to gay marriage to the Confederate flag—which began disappearing from public spaces across the South in the space of mere days—the country is moving leftward, with voters growing younger, more diverse, and more socially liberal. That has left the 2016 Republican presidential candidates with a true dilemma: Either accept the new America and alienate the party’s aging, far-right base, or…5 min

NEWSThe U.S. at a glance ...Washington, D.C.Environmental defeat: The Supreme Court delivered a blow to President Obama’s climate change agenda as it wrapped up its summer term this week, blocking an ambitious Environmental Protection Agency initiative that imposed strict limits on toxic mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants. In a narrow 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that the EPA had failed to take into account the $9.6 billion yearly cost of the EPA rule—thereby violating the Clean Air Act, which requires regulations to be “appropriate and necessary.” Industry groups argued the punishing annual costs are only offset by about $6 million in benefits to society. “No regulation is ‘appropriate’ if it does significantly more harm than good,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia for the majority. The EPA claimed that when secondary pollutants were also…4 min

Issue Jul-10-15 - The Week Magazine (2024)

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