These are dark times

Dear Readers, The edifice of our country is the idea we are governed by laws that apply equally to all regardless of class or wealth.  

The germination of this idea is the Declaration of Independence.  It was an airing of grievances against the Crown and declaring universal rights being denied by an oppressive King.  “All men are created equal endowed with certain inalienable rights.”

When we won our independence, our first attempt at governance was the Articles of Confederation and this was an abject failure.  The rights of the states overwhelmed the central government authority.  With recognition of this flaw, our Founding Fathers nestled power-sharing sovereignty in our Constitution between the States and co-equal branches of government.

For almost 250 years, this has served us well; principally, due to our Founders’ foresight in enshrining individual rights in the Bill of Rights.  These first ten amendments to the Constitution are a call-back to the abuses of King George III.  Warrants are required before arrest.  Soldiers cannot commandeer property for war-making.  The government has to prove guilt in criminal cases, it cannot be presumed, in trials of peers, and silence is not a weapon wielded against you.

The 1^st Amendment protects free speech, the right to protest and gather against government, and to practice your religion free of government interference.  We did not want a repeat of Colonial America where freedom fighters were spirited secretly away and pamphlet presses were smashed because King George willed it.  “No taxation without representation” may have rallied public opinion, but the core principle motivating the Revolution was the idea that no man should be arbitrarily punished by a dictatorial overlord.

Above all, there are principles of due process and equal protection inherent in the Bill of Rights, and later enshrined in the 14^th Amendment.  This guarantees all persons, citizens, registered aliens, and the undocumented, the basic right to notice and an opportunity to be heard.  We do not have secret police or brown-shirted thugs squashing dissent.  

All of this made us Ronald Reagan’s “shining city upon a hill.”  We were a beacon of laws, fairness, and justice.  In World War II, we fought to liberate Europe, Africa, and the Pacific.  This is the same reason Reagan called on Gorbachev to “bring down that wall”; Bill Clinton stood on the right side of history in Bosnia; the Bushes liberated Iraq from a monster; and, Georgia’s own Jimmy Carter championed peace and human rights across the globe.

We live in dark times.  The question is whether we care or not.  We live our daily lives, most of us completely unaware of the creeping sickness weakening our adherence to the rule of law.

Human beings are being secretly rendered to El Salvadoran prisons, because of tattoos – no notice, no hearing, just whisked away.  Mixed in with criminals are poor souls who have done nothing wrong.  The immigration status of individuals is being revoked because of student newspaper opinion pieces or acting as a spokesperson for a student protest.  Gangs of federal agents with no identifying markings are lying in wait to spirit them away to Louisiana.  No warrants approved by magistrates or notice and a hearing as the Constitution requires, just the authority of the Executive branch of government.

These people have rights of due process that our Constitution guarantees because they are human beings in the United States.  A Federal judge ordered the flights stopped.  His order was both ignored and he was painted as a public villain because he dared to hold the Administration accountable.  Instead, the head of the Department of Homeland flies to San Salvador for a photo-op, mocking the suffering of the innocent.

Meanwhile, high-ranking government officials are debating war policy on commercial platforms in violation of the Presidential Records Act.  And, they are also violating security protocols mandated by laws for which we imprison people.  You would think Congress would investigate the grievous threats to our national security.  You would think the Department of Justice would see fit to protect us.  You would think “heads would roll.”

Law firms are being bullied because of past and present clients or legal positions.  Security clearances are being revoked and attorneys are being barred from federal courthouses.

In the false idol worship of government efficiency, people are losing jobs, some in this community, because of the actions of an unelected, unofficial, and ill-trained cadre of hacks.  Laws be damned.  

These are dark times indeed … What has become of the rule of law?

Warner Robins attorney Jim Rockefeller is the former Chief Assistant District Attorney for Houston County, and a former Assistant State Attorney in Miami.  Owner of Rockefeller Law Center, Jim has been in private practice since 2000.  E-mail your comments or confidential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.com.