BY SHARON MARTIN

The Supreme Court recognized intent instead of quibbling over language, so the subsidies Congress intended for insurance buyers on the Affordable Care Act exchanges stand. This is a victory for middle class families.

Marriage is legal for any two consenting adults in all 50 states. This is a victory for everyone, whether some recognize it as such or not. Politicians should never be in the business of deciding who can or cannot enter into the legal contract of marriage.

In Kansas and Arizona, you will not have to provide proof of citizenship to be able to vote. This a victory for voters, especially as conservatives fight to limit voting rights for those they don’t deem worthy of having a voice.

Three victories. And losses.

If you’re a child with a developing brain, a pregnant woman, an asthmatic, or an air-breathing human, the court has decided that the costs to power companies to comply with the Mercury and Air Toxics Regulations are more important than your health.

Oh, but it’s good news for shareholders of coal stocks.

And if you’re on death row in Oklahoma, you weren’t really expecting any good news, were you?

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said that “petitioners [who objected to the use of midazolam in executions] failed to establish that any risk of harm was substantial when compared to a known and available alternative method of execution.”

But in a shuffle forward, Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsberg have called the constitutionality of the death penalty into question, especially regarding the number of those sentenced or even executed who have later been exonerated.

And in a giant leap backward to Birmingham, 1963, seven black churches from Ohio to Florida have burned in the past week.

In Knoxville, TN, hay bales were piled in the doorway of College Hills Seventh Day Adventist Church and set ablaze. A tree fell on power lines and likely started the Florida fire. Three of the church burnings are confirmed arsons, however. The other blazes are under investigation.

Hate is always heartbreaking. So is the silence from U.S. news sources. Perhaps law enforcement officials and the media have come to an agreement that publicity would only inspire more hate, especially in the aftermath of the racist massacre in Charleston.

More likely? It’s just another step backward for those who want truly fair and balanced news.

– Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer