The specter of dimpled chads has emerged to haunt American politics. Twenty years after the contested presidential election of George W. Bush against Al Gore made punch lines out of certain ambiguous ballots in Florida, allegations of election irregularities again are causing worry that the Supreme Court of the United States might select the next […]

Chick-fil-A makes delicious sandwiches without beef. But not on Sundays. Owned by Christians, the company also gives away millions of dollars each year to charitable organizations that help people who need assistance. Until recently, one of those was the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army, in its own words, “exists to meet human need wherever, whenever, […]

Children often bear the worst of our challenges, and our disagreements. When Alabama public schools shut down in response to the coronavirus pandemic, we saw (again) that the promise of education is not equally available to all young people. Many government-run school administrators were unable to deliver education to the children within their districts. At […]

Who rules us? For centuries, the dominant American answer has been that we rule ourselves. But there are alternative views. As long as there have been human beings, some have insisted that we should not have to rule ourselves, but should be free to do whatever feels right. Others have argued that we should be […]

This unusual moment in history has been full of surprises. Some of those surprises raise profound questions that we will be thinking through for a long time after COVID-19 passes. Many people have been surprised to learn how much power state and county health officials have. In a March 25 guidance letter, Attorney General Steve […]

Unusual challenges such as this coronavirus pandemic teach us who we really are. They reveal whether we are courageous and generous or fearful and selfish. Our leaders are no different. We learn their virtues and vices when they are tested by difficult times. Three such virtues are especially important for leaders in a time such […]

The future is on its way to Alabama. That is inevitable. What the future will bring is not. But there is a potential future that many people want to bring to Alabama. Though it is sold as a future of freedom and equality, it is not a future in which people flourish. Call it the […]

For just over a month now, Alabama officials have not issued marriage licenses. They instead record certificates memorializing marital contracts, signed by married couples and notarized. The law authorizing this change is a sensible and principled compromise. Indeed, it might be a model for other states. It accommodates both the opinion of the U.S. Supreme […]