"What matters is that acts we once took for granted as virtuous, routine, and safe — telling the truth, representing those oppressed by the state, providing legal aid to the powerless, volunteering to work at a polling site, basic journalism — now carry some risk. They now require some courage."
Do enough of us have enough of this kind of courage to persevere and fight back against an authoritarian power-grab? Time will tell: but every act of courage--including the writing of these words, Mr. Balko--is a reminder that it is still within our power to resist the destruction of our nation.
For me, the most chilling part of your post today:
“My son asked if what we were doing was illegal. I told him it was all perfectly legal. Then he asked me a question I really couldn’t answer: Why did we feel like we had to take these steps to hide legal work that was perfectly legal? And all I could think to say was that this is the kind of country we live in now.”
It's going to take all kinds of courage to get back to an America where we can trust the government to govern with the best interests of The People in mind.
Thank you for sounding the alarm so clearly! People need to know this is happening, and they also need to know that they are not standing alone against this authoritarian nightmare. We CAN turn, but only if we all work together and support each other.
Many thanks for this. For those of us somewhat removed from the fray by age and location, this is the most granular account I've seen of how the fear spreads. Courage is required -- let's also hope that it is true that courage can be contagious.
A retired lawyer came up with a way to bring suit against injustice from individuals (and maybe corporations). I found this in the replies to Judd Legum's Popular Information on April 21st:
Ken Bass
Apr 21
I'm a retired trial lawyer. I really want to emphasize that federal law permits CIVIL lawsuits against government agents who violate a person's constitutional rights. These are called "Section 1983" or "Blevens" lawsuits. They are civil actions that can be brought against individual government agents, meaning they cannot be erased by a pardon. It is time for the victims of these illegal and unconstitutional arrests to start filing legal actions against the agents who detained them, which will then deter ICE officers from following illegal orders from above, and will also develop evidence during discovery that could lead to such lawsuits against higher level officials.
Wow, Radley, I am so glad that I became a full subscriber. Every time I read one of your pieces, I am impressed by you depth and width of investigation. [I read this article after reading Judd Legum's article on Clay Jackson today (4-29). The readers of substacks are blessed to have so many very high quality journalists offering fully informative articles that fill in where our newspapers fall short (unless they pick up and offer the substack information).
Your son asks the right questions--let's keep answering them.
"What matters is that acts we once took for granted as virtuous, routine, and safe — telling the truth, representing those oppressed by the state, providing legal aid to the powerless, volunteering to work at a polling site, basic journalism — now carry some risk. They now require some courage."
Do enough of us have enough of this kind of courage to persevere and fight back against an authoritarian power-grab? Time will tell: but every act of courage--including the writing of these words, Mr. Balko--is a reminder that it is still within our power to resist the destruction of our nation.
For me, the most chilling part of your post today:
“My son asked if what we were doing was illegal. I told him it was all perfectly legal. Then he asked me a question I really couldn’t answer: Why did we feel like we had to take these steps to hide legal work that was perfectly legal? And all I could think to say was that this is the kind of country we live in now.”
It's going to take all kinds of courage to get back to an America where we can trust the government to govern with the best interests of The People in mind.
Thank you for sounding the alarm so clearly! People need to know this is happening, and they also need to know that they are not standing alone against this authoritarian nightmare. We CAN turn, but only if we all work together and support each other.
Many thanks for this. For those of us somewhat removed from the fray by age and location, this is the most granular account I've seen of how the fear spreads. Courage is required -- let's also hope that it is true that courage can be contagious.
Clay Jackson shouldn't ask if he is paranoid, but whether he is paranoid enough.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-161811452
A retired lawyer came up with a way to bring suit against injustice from individuals (and maybe corporations). I found this in the replies to Judd Legum's Popular Information on April 21st:
Ken Bass
Apr 21
I'm a retired trial lawyer. I really want to emphasize that federal law permits CIVIL lawsuits against government agents who violate a person's constitutional rights. These are called "Section 1983" or "Blevens" lawsuits. They are civil actions that can be brought against individual government agents, meaning they cannot be erased by a pardon. It is time for the victims of these illegal and unconstitutional arrests to start filing legal actions against the agents who detained them, which will then deter ICE officers from following illegal orders from above, and will also develop evidence during discovery that could lead to such lawsuits against higher level officials.
Wow, Radley, I am so glad that I became a full subscriber. Every time I read one of your pieces, I am impressed by you depth and width of investigation. [I read this article after reading Judd Legum's article on Clay Jackson today (4-29). The readers of substacks are blessed to have so many very high quality journalists offering fully informative articles that fill in where our newspapers fall short (unless they pick up and offer the substack information).
Your son asks the right questions--let's keep answering them.