Perspectives

Constitutional law expert John Inazu writes an op-ed in The Atlantic calling for all churches to suspend worship services and other gatherings, as some already have done, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. He also argues Supreme Court precedent would permit a government order that they do.

In St. Louis, if our past is any indication, we have what it takes to dig in and do what is needed to pull through, writes Chancellor Andrew Martin. We’re already seeing this happen in the actions of our leaders, institutions and citizens. We must stay focused, brace ourselves for what comes next, and know that whatever happens, we’ll face it together.

Here in Missouri, it is easy to have the same casual response as the Florida revelers, or as the administration during its tortured path toward deciding this was serious, writes Ken Schechtman.

The public-health evidence makes clear that houses of worship should limit their gatherings, whether mandated or simply encouraged by government officials, writes John Inazu.

The estimates of total cases and fatality rates are rapidly changing, writes Darrell Hudson. There is no way to accurately account for how many people have the virus. Our best-case scenario during this pandemic is the prevention paradox.

Reformers have rightly focused attention on many aspects of American criminal justice that are broken, writes Dan Epps. Some reforms are easier than others. Creating a defender general is an unusually simple one, with the potential to provide large benefits for millions of people.

The loopholes in our campaign financing laws will continue to advantage billionaires like Michael Bloomberg, writes Clarissa Rile Hayward. But the outcomes of our elections should be not be shaped by the power of his checkbook.

Adia Harvey Wingfield, the Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor in Arts & Sciences, writes an essay published in Vox about the Louisiana abortion case before the U.S. Supreme Court. She argues that laws requiring hospital admitting privileges are particularly dangerous for black doctors.

Michael Allen, senior lecturer at the Sam Fox School, writes in an article published in The St. Louis American reflecting on the death of longtime St. Louis Alderman Sam Moore. “Moore’s legacy urges us to remember that St. Louis won’t be a whole city until north St. Louis is a record of equity and justice,”. […]

Far right theories on a Jewish-Chinese COVID-19 cabal are breaking out of the infamously anti-Semitic dark web – with real-world consequences, writes Flora Cassen.