Comparing the protection of rights in the US and UK

 I intend to write something good about this at SOME POINT, but Helen Lewis, who writes for the Atlantic and others, has done my job for me.

In this piece she compares the protections in the UK Equalities Act 2010 with the judicial protections in the US, most obviously Roe vs Wade, Brown vs Board and Obergefell vs Hodges. One of the key passages is "this is what you get when you can’t pass new primary legislation: endless judicial chicanery and sleight of hand. Across the US, there is majority support for gay marriage, for abortion rights, for laws to prohibit firing people for being gay. But under the current system, these rights are fragile, and will always be fragile—the whim of a handful of lifetime appointees."

So, the US political system and the level of gridlock, hyperpartisanship, and systems such as the filibuster, mean that judges are handed enormous power. And the stakes being so high, with this huge power being handed to, in effect, a minority of the US population, means that this will continue to be a huge battleground.

You can, and should, read the whole piece here.