Editorial voices from elsewhere
Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States as compiled by the Associated Press:
Indiana legislators might not have anticipated the furor caused by a law allowing people to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans under the guise of religious freedom.
In fact, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act set off a very different kind of March madness in the home state of the NCAA. Critics warn this might be the only law of its kind in the nation that allows anyone in the private and public sectors to refuse service, housing and other rights to LGBT residents.
The citizens of Washington are no strangers to the battle against inequality. In 2012, a majority of voters chose to legalize same-sex marriage.
Even today, the struggle continues.
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued and fined a Richland, Wash. florist after she refused to do business with a longtime customer because he was marrying a man.
Supporters of LGBT rights will not stand idle as fellow Americans try to roll back the clock in the name of religious freedom.
The Indianapolis Star editorial board called on legislators to enact a state law that bans discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. This message of inclusion means liberty for all, not just those who claim to be religious.
Washingtonians know well the benefits of embracing equality. Our state is a better place for it. Indiana should do the same.
Two bills making their way through the Alabama House and Senate would allow teenagers under 18 to legally carry a handgun if they have their parents’ permission.
We won’t rattle off the entire list of problems with these bills, since this one will suffice: This premise only works if the gun-toting teenagers’ parents are gun-savvy and diligent about teaching their child how to safely use a firearm.
More than a few gun-toting adults have a hard-enough time practicing safe gun ownership. It’s common to hear of accidents, if not deaths, that result from adults’ bad decisions and lax oversight with their weapons. Teens aren’t the only ones who can act recklessly, foolishly – or worse.
Teaching the rules of responsible ownership to teens in gun-friendly families is important. But passing a law that’s more about politics than the Second Amendment and could put gun-toting teens – and others – at risk isn’t the way to do it.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been around Washington politics long enough to know that Republicans on Capitol Hill are hoping she continues to resist turning over her private email server for review.
Saying no even to the independent inspector general for the State Department or some other neutral party to conduct an inventory of the server continues to feed the public’s perception that Clinton has something to hide.
It doesn’t matter to the Republicans in Congress and her other detractors that she turned over 55,000 pages of emails relating to her official duties and has urged the State Department to make them public.
Clinton insists that the private emails had nothing to do with her official duties as secretary of state and were mostly personal in nature.
We believe the former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady should be given the opportunity to name a person who would join the neutral third party selected by the Republican leadership in the House to go through the server. That way, her personal interests would be protected.
The Hillary Clinton emails should be reviewed by individuals who are not part of government and are not partisan. It’s a tall order, but if the goal is to determine the nature of the emails, then the Republicans will have no objection to the independent review away from Congress.