Concierge medicine is a practice where patients pay a membership fee in order to receive more personalized and often higher-than-average quality health care. This is in stark contrast to the more common fee-for-service model most patients receive. In this article, concerns about concierge medicine are raised, focusing mostly on the inequity that can result from what is essentially a two-tiered health care system.

The execution of Kenneth Smith by the state of Alabama using nitrogen hypoxia made headlines earlier this year. The major question was whether the method of execution was appropriate. However, few major news outlets approached the question of whether Smith’s execution was appropriate in itself. In this article, Coleman explores the case itself and the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding capital punishment.