Justice Team

"All that is necessary for evil to exist is for good people to do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke

Women in today's military are not safe. According to a report in Newsweek, women in the United States military are more likely to be assaulted by men in the military than killed or injured by an enemy soldier. Last year there were 26,000 reports of sexual assaults. Those are only the reported assaults. Women state they are being intimidated if they consider reporting. When a guilty verdict is reached, it is often overturned by a commanding officer. Women senators and representatives are taking a leadership role in addressing the issue.

The Violence Against Women Act was finally reauthorized despite conservative opposition. Those objecting did not seem to think it was important to protect Native American women or immigrant women from domestic violence.

As congress comes together to debate an immigration reform bill, it is important that they consider the specific needs of children of immigrant parents. According to the Coalition on Human Needs, children of immigrant parents comprise one in four of all children in the United States. Too often children have been disregarded or excluded in U.S. immigration policy decisions.

The Coalition on Human Needs presents a grim picture of the consequences of the sequester. Unemployment compensation, education, jobs programs, housing, public health, and justice funding are already feeling the brunt of deep cuts coming from the inability of congress and the president to reach a reasoned agreement. Families and individuals will all suffer. The following points are snapshots of effects of sequester cuts provided by the Coalition:

Education

There is the feel of springtime in the church today. We witnessed a pope reject symbols of pomp and privilege - no red shoes, no red cape, no chair elevated above an audience, and a simple apartment to serve as home for Pope Francis. Pope Francis is following in the tradition of St. Francis and reaching out to those often uninvited by society or church. It was a teachable moment when he conducted Holy Thursday Mass at a juvenile detention facility and washed the feet of prisoners, including two women and one Muslim. Earlier he said to priests gathered at the chrism mass: "...shepherds need to be with the smell of their sheep. We need to prioritize the poor."