Terry Newell is currently director of his own firm, Leadership for a Responsible Society. His work focuses on values-based leadership, ethics, and decision making. A former Air Force officer, Terry also previously served as Director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education, and as Dean of Faculty at the Federal Executive Institute. Terry is co-editor and author of The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships That Make Government Work (CQ Press, 2011). He also wrote Statesmanship, Character and Leadership in America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and To Serve with Honor: Doing the Right Thing in Government (Loftlands Press 2015).
All in Establish Justice
Justice is the end of government. Freedom must serve that end. A good society ensures that freedom is restrained when it becomes a barrier to justice.
Rosa Parks is rightly honored for risking her life to end bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. But her contributions for racial justice go well beyond that seminal event.
Jane Addams believed the ills or poverty and war could be corrected by the commitment of individuals to dialogue and action. She practiced this belief in Chicago’s Hull House and well beyond it.
When Supreme Court decisions are defied, we weaken the branch of government that is the only barrier against executive or legislative tyranny.
The Constitution promises to “insure domestic Tranquility,” yet America is an increasingly untranquil society..
A democratic society depends on a moral attachment to the rule of law and an insistence on blind justice.
The trial verdict on Kyle Rittenhouse is in, but our deliberation on how we think about this case is still needed.
The poor and nearly-poor must organize to vote in greater numbers. Without doing so, they will continue to be ignored.
America must reckon with the history of those who were denied freedom in 1776 and redress the persisting evils of slavery and the decimation of our Native American population.
Majorities may pass voting laws, but when those laws are unjust, the winners of elections forfeit the legitimacy to govern.
The inequities in the impact of COVID 19 question the moral commitment of the nation. We must fix them now and prevent them in future pandemics.
When the Supreme Court and lower courts are seen as a third political branch of government, their moral authority and respect for the Constitution suffer.
Tens of millions of Americans are in poverty, and millions more are one medical crisis or job loss away. We can - and must - do better.
The tragic death of George Floyd highlights the injustice that still waits to be corrected for so many Americans.
So many low income workers are making social distancing possible. When COVID19 ends, we owe them much more than just saying “thanks.”
People with moral courage and an understanding of the “sacred values” that matter to others can find ways to bridge the seeming chasm between “us” and “them.”
Children deserve a childhood which today, for too many, is fleeting and endangered. We all suffer as a result.
We need cures for student loan debt that do not produce unintended side effects that warp society and the character of the students they are designed to help.
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) advances, we are beginning to confront a host of ethical issues. More will be coming as AI moves from science fiction to fact in our lives.
Americans love to shout “unfair!,” but what’s fair differs depends on who’s deciding. Checking our emotions, seeing the world through others' eyes, and seeking compromise help bridge gaps in our views.
