This post is personal...

In May I connected with my good friend Paula Yost who is a fellow attorney and also holds her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling to have a candid discussion about mental health and suicide.

In May Officer Edward Nero was acquitted of all charges and late last year Officer William Porter's case ended in a mistrial after a hung jury failed to make a decision.  What these cases tell us are two very clear facts.

First, the acquittal of Officer Nero, the bicycle cop who only assisted in the arrest of Gray, tells us that the evidence clearly shows Gray did not die as a result of injuries sustained in the actual arrest. 

Second, the hung jury in the case of Officer Porter shows that the evidence was NOT clear enough regarding what occurred in the actual transport of Gray that lead to his death.

So whether it was Porter's failure to adequately buckle Gray in the transport van as called for in the protocol or Goodson's failure to stop and get care when Gray is reported to have said "I can't breathe" in the back of the van it is unclear who is at fault.

So not only is HB2 blatantly discriminatory to the Transgender community but it also blatantly tears at the very fabric of American democracy. If the will of voters can be overturned at the whim of those at the highest levels of power then what purpose will local elections serve? If state legislatures provide no protections to those employed by the private enterprises that bring millions of dollars to their states then what incentive will businesses have to do right? What incentive will talent have to take jobs in states like North Carolina?