Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote 134 dissenting opinions during her tenure on the Supreme Court. She approached dissention with reverence, hope, and style — wearing a certain bejeweled collar whenever she needed to communicate her opposition to the Supreme Court’s majority opinion. In 2002, she spoke with NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg, who asked the Supreme Court justice if she ever felt angry when sitting on the dissenting side. “Not angry, but disappointed,” Ginsburg replied. “Some of my favorite opinions are dissenting opinions. I will not live to see what becomes of them, but I remain hopeful.”
It was hard to remain hopeful this week — this year, really. We’re living in an age of dissent. People in U.S. detention centers are subject to inhumane treatment. And we dissent. The justice system did not hold any police officers accountable for shooting Breonna Taylor in her own home. And we dissent. The president refused to say whether he would facilitate a peaceful transfer of power and we go on dissenting, trying to remain hopeful as we absorb the stories of the world. Here are the 10 stories our editors have been reading this week:
1. The Pattern of Abuse in Immigrant Detention Centers Is Clear
“Forced sterilization has been a common strategy of white supremacists attempting genocide against Indigenous, Black, and brown people and people with mental and physical disabilities throughout U.S. history.” By Paola Fuentes Gleghorn via sojo.net.
2. How Climate Migration Will Reshape America
Millions will be displaced. Where will they go? By Abrahm Lustgarten via The New York Times.
3. ‘Spiritual’ People Are More Likely to Vote, Study Finds
According to the study, 3 out of 5 participants see a link between their spirituality and investing in their community. By the Web Editors via sojo.net.
4. ‘Blessed Is God, the True Judge’: Ginsburg Memorialized in Hebrew in the Halls of the Supreme Court
“Ginsburg brought her Judaism into her chambers, where she hung the biblical words ‘Tzedek, tzedek tirdof,’ which mean ‘Justice, justice shall you pursue.’” By Julie Zauzmer via The Washington Post.
5. Celebrating the Days of Awe in the Year that Nothing Went to Plan
“If a shofar can be sounded in Auschwitz, how can we complain about the awkwardness of celebrating the new year via Zoom?” By Molly Conway via sojo.net.
6. The Election that Could Break America
If the vote is close, Donald Trump could easily throw the election into chaos and subvert the result. Who will stop him? By Garton Bellman via The Atlantic.
7. No Justice for Breonna Taylor: The Indictment Didn’t Even #SayHerName
The decision exposes the value gap in our justice system that so often dismisses and degrades the value of Black life. By Adam Russel Taylor via sojo.net.
8. The Black Southerners Hoping to Chart a New Path to the Senate
"I am not a wealthy politician who can buy a seat in the U.S. Senate. Instead, I'm going to work for it like I have worked for everything else in my life." By Olivia Paschal via Facing South.
9. American Protestantism’s Commodification of the Middle East’s ‘Holy Lands’
American exceptionalism’s biblical orientalism has often rendered Middle Eastern Christians as exotic artifacts to be studied and converted. By Amy Fallas via sojo.net.
10. Sticker Shock in the Pharmacy
For chronically ill patients, decisions about whether to pay or go without medications are life-or-death battles that must be fought over and over again. By Stephanie Talmadge via The New York Times.
Jenna Barnett is senior associate culture editor at Sojourners. Find her on Twitter: @jennacbarnett.
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