So many lumps of coal, so little time. We’ve seen a lot of mischief and bad behavior this year, from mean-spirited campaign pledges to deceptive diesel engines to stubbornly profligate water use. (And that’s not even counting the truly evil deeds of 2015, starting with the Charlie Hebdo killings and running through the massacre in San Bernardino.) But like Santa’s tally, our Naughty ledger has a Nice counterpart, and this year the names included those of an unflappable police chief and, yes, a couple of politicians.
Naughty
Volkswagen, which brazenly duped regulators and buyers alike with software that turned off smog controls on its supposedly environmentally friendly diesel-powered cars.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who blasted through the metaphorical wall between church and state by refusing marriage licenses to gay couples because she believes homosexuality to be a sin.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who called for a ban on immigration into the U.S. by Muslims, in effect saying the government should presume every Muslim outside its borders is a terrorist. An additional lump for his rival Ben Carson, for saying American voters shouldn’t elect a Muslim president.
The Wet Prince of Bel Air — the still-anonymous water waster found by the Center for Investigative Reporting to be sloshing his, her, their or its way through enough water to serve 90 average single-family homes — in the midst of a historic drought.
Martin Shkreli, the former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, for buying the rights to an anti-parasitic drug crucial to some patients with malaria or HIV, then raising the price from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
Melissa Click, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, who tried to chase a student journalist away from a gathering of protesters by shouting “Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here.”
Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist and big-game hunter who killed Cecil, a beloved and well-known lion, outside a protected habitat in Zimbabwe.
Nice
The U.S. Congress, for passing the USA Freedom Act and ending the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of millions of Americans’ telephone records.
Pope Francis, for reminding Americans of the importance of welcoming displaced people — in vivid contrast to the xenophobic message delivered by a number of Republican presidential candidates.
The Supreme Court, for finding a restriction on election campaign-spending that it could uphold: Florida’s ban on judicial candidates personally soliciting campaign funds.
The Los Angeles City Council, for requiring that handguns be fitted with trigger locks or secured in boxes or lockers when not in use, and barring ownership of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 cartridges.
Prosecutors in the U.S. and Switzerland, for addressing what had been obvious to the international soccer community for years: corruption within FIFA, the international organization governing world soccer.
The Supreme Court, for affirming that the right to marriage belongs to all, a large step toward equality for the nation’s gay population.
The Nebraska Legislature, for voting to end capital punishment in the state.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan, for exceptional leadership in the most trying circumstances imaginable.