KENNEDY: The business of business requires trust
Think about the numerous ways in which we all rely on the trustworthiness of both government and business.
Sheila Suess Kennedy
Articles
KENNEDY: An (im)modest G.I. Bill proposal
Originally conceived as an effort to reward those who had risked their lives for their country, the G.I. Bill had a number of other positive consequences: It raised the skill level of the American workforce and provided an avenue for social mobility.
Ends and means—BlueIndy edition
In my classes, one of the things I emphasize to my students is the importance of process. The way in which you achieve a goal is often just as important—sometimes even more important—than the goal itself. This is, of course, a core precept of the rule of law. There are plenty of examples: efforts to […]
KENNEDY: First Amendment isn’t without limits
When acting on our religious convictions requires us to violate what lawyers call “laws of general application,” government can step in and say “sorry.”
KENNEDY: The twisted tale of Planned Parenthood
Despite the propaganda, Planned Parenthood isn’t selling fetal tissue or profiting from its use in medical research.
KENNEDY: Playing ‘Who’s the Bigot?’
Opponents of the 1964 Civil Rights Act claimed that their religious beliefs required separation of the races, and that those beliefs should trump the rights of black citizens who wanted to shop in their stores or eat in their restaurants.
KENNEDY: Same-sex ruling wasn’t activism
The charge that the same-sex ruling was activist rests on a belief that the court should have left the decision to the voters. But in America, fundamental rights are not subject to vote.
KENNEDY: A public project done right
Eskenazi Hospital's planning process can teach us important lessons about the proper approach to public projects.
KENNEDY: If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right
This hiatus in what seemed like a headlong rush to commit Indianapolis taxpayers to a very expensive new justice center provides decision-makers and stakeholders alike an excellent opportunity to consider what we’ve learned from this debate.
KENNEDY: Change impatiently confronts government
Innovations typically introduce new ways of doing things we’re already doing—we Google that question rather than consult a reference book, or we socialize via Facebook rather than face-to-face.
KENNEDY: Puritans, ‘Planting Fathers’ and RFRA
I know Hoosiers are getting tired of postmortems of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act debate, but if we are going to avoid similarly divisive conflicts in the future, it behooves us to debrief, and consider the warring worldviews that generated this one.
KENNEDY: Monied megaphones drown debate
In the wake of a precipitous decline in his approval ratings, and the subsequent resignation of his communications director, Gov. Pence has reportedly asked the person who served that function on his congressional staff to leave his position with Koch Industries and come to Indiana to help him recover.
KENNEDY: About that arc of the moral universe
There’s a famous quote by Martin Luther King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
KENNEDY: The perils of tunnel vision
The only thing one can say with any certainty about Indiana’s “religious freedom” bill is that Mike Pence didn’t have a clue.
KENNEDY: Indy doesn’t need another technocrat mayor
We need a mayor who genuinely loves this city, a mayor whose roots and heart are here.
KENNEDY: If more lawmakers could be like Spock
During the past couple of weeks, we’ve said goodbye to Spock in more ways than one.
KENNEDY: Indiana Legislature should debate real issues
The General Assembly is in session, and citizens who follow legislative matters are watching this year’s antics with reactions that run the gamut from bemusement to impatience to you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me.
KENNEDY: The foundation of our success is crumbling
In my classroom, when I introduce the topic of infrastructure, a lot of students’ eyes begin to glaze over. They shouldn’t.
KENNEDY: Perverse incentives lead to bad decisions
I am hardly the first—or only—person pointing to the unfortunate consequences of constitutionalizing the tax caps (nor the only person rolling her eyes at Gov. Pence’s duplicative “balanced budget” proposal).
KENNEDY: Help the middle class and watch corporate profits rise
How many times do we preface an analysis with “All things being equal … ”? And how many times are we reminded that all things are rarely equal? Life has an annoying way of being messy, making linear conclusions problematic.