Auchtoon!

As you are all well aware, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this month with the intention of leaving it to individual states to decide pregnancy issues for themselves. Or as the majority framed it, “authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives” because “the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.”

Whether you agree or disagree with the legal logic, the net effect is the same. And, of course, it is real people with real lives who are going to have to deal with those effects.

As likely much less of you are aware, this week the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that cases against former state officials charged for their involvement in the Flint Water Crisis cannot go forward because they have not been properly prosecuted. Or more precisely, “(State laws) authorize a judge to investigate, subpoena witnesses, and issue arrest warrants. But they do not authorize the judge to issue indictments. And if a criminal process begins with a one-man grand jury, the accused is entitled to a preliminary examination before being brought to trial.”

Again, whether that makes sense to you or not, what it means is that real people will have to deal with the consequences. And that includes delaying justice for Flint residents.

As we head into a holiday weekend to celebrate the United States of America, all this is a pretty good reminder that while there are many, many wonderful benefits to being participants in this constitutional republic experiment, it can also be deeply frustrating.