At a recent Town Hall in Indiana, Congresswoman Victoria Spartz responded to a citizen’s question/challenge by asserting that “people who break the law aren’t entitled to due process.” Spartz has a long history of ignorance and bizarre behaviors, but this particular example–while undoubtedly endearing her to an unconstitutional administration–reflected her incredible unfitness for public office.
Why is due process an essential component of the rule of law?
David French recently addressed that question in a New York Times essay,
The defense of civil liberties is hard even under the best of circumstances. Thousands of years of human history tell us that we are not naturally inclined to protect the rights of our opponents, much less the rights of people we believe to be violent and dangerous.
That’s why the defense of the Bill of Rights requires both practical and moral arguments. The practical defense is often the most effective: Protect the rights of others that you would like to exercise yourself. After all, one day you might not be in control.
In other words, poison gas is a great weapon until the wind shifts…
French goes on to argue that the best arguments for due process transcend self-interest–that due process guarantees protect “the inherent dignity and worth of every human being.”
Americans have provided due process even to the nation’s wartime enemies. French quoted a federal judge for the travesty that Nazis had been given better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than people suspected of being members of a Venezuelan gang.
Numerous media outlets have reported on the arrest and rendition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was accused of gang membership and sent to prison in El Salvador. Abrego Garcia was in the U.S. legally, and in 2019 a court had barred the government from deporting him to El Salvador. An official of ICE admitted, under oath, that he’d been deported due to “administrative error,” but claimed the government couldn’t get him back “because he is no longer in U.S. jurisdiction.”
The judge found that “there were no legal grounds whatsoever for his arrest, detention, or removal…. [H]is detention appears wholly lawless” and “a clear constitutional violation.”
If the government can simply assert–without the need to provide even flimsy evidence–that anyone they consider offensive or inconvenient is a “criminal,” then no one is safe.
America’s darker history is instructive: those most aware of the danger posed by lack of due process are the people who remember Jim Crow, when Black Americans in the South received less protection than the Nazis referenced by the judge.
A guest essay in the New York Times made that point graphically.
There’s something about this moment that is shocking to many in my orbit. Watching a security camera video of a graduate student — from Tufts, my alma mater — who is legally in the country being picked up in broad daylight by masked government agents and hustled into an unmarked car. Witnessing people lose their jobs with no warning or justification. The presumption underlying these attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs that somehow only white men are qualified to do many jobs. Denying lawyers access to federal buildings so they can’t represent their clients properly. Seeing communities from Cincinnati to El Paso live in a state of fear from the police and bands of vigilantes.
“How can this be happening in America?” these people ask. “This is not the country I know, the country of rights and laws and due process.”
Needless to say, these people are almost all white and liberal and are not used to feeling this fear of arbitrary, brutal state authority. But this moment, the one that was explicitly promised by Project 2025 and Donald Trump when he was a candidate, looks a lot like what my grandmother experienced every day for much of her life.
What Indiana’s civically-illiterate Congresswoman fails to understand is that due process for people accused of criminal activities is a foundational concept in the U.S. Constitution. It is a principle of fundamental fairness–a requirement that government demonstrate an accused’s guilt with probative evidence before imposing punishment.
Adherence to due process for everyone is what makes social progress possible. It is what protects Americans against the would-be autocrats who want to run roughshod over the individual liberties of those who oppose them.
Due Process is mentioned twice in the Constitution — in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, both of which prohibit government officials from depriving an individual of “life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Free speech and due process stand in the way of Project 2025. We need to defend them from MAGA’s ignorance and malevolence.
Equally frightening to me is that the executive can now decide what is criminal behavior and what is not. No debate in Congress and a vote by both houses are necessary.
If criticism of the regime is now a crime then we have all given them plenty of evidence here on this blog to use in order to drag us off the streets and put us away somewhere.
Due Process is certainly not being followed by Trump, Musk and their legally questionable DOGE creation which is terrorizing government workers and American citizens with threatened, and carried out, loss of jobs, income and freedom of speech in our universities and elsewhere. The across the board firings and closings of government departments and divisions is not even good business tactics but is being carried out by two professed highest level “businessmen”. A claimed millionaire and a claimed billionaire are telling people living on this country’s Minimum Wage how to live their lives and be grateful for the opportunity.
Laws have been set, Due Process decides if a law has been broken…but who decides if the law is fair to all and that no one is above the law and protects the citizenry from their dictatorship rulings? The Supreme Court has set Trump, and his every decision, to be above all laws and no one questions or takes action against them to dispute those decisions. This defies what has been acceptable in this country as our Process but it no longer makes any Progress to protect anyone but the rampant Executive branch of government today.
As a police officer we were taught, in those days, that the basic philosophy that guides our actions is that it is better to let ten guilty people go free than to imprison one who is innocent.
A bully’s reign of terror is transitional. What will have been uncivil more than likely ends uncivil. The bully’s name becomes synonymous with tyranny. Deep wounds will take generations to heal at home and abroad. Civil law and order will be restored. Justice will be served and those complicit will be held accountable. The playbook will be placed on obscure shelves for research to help future generations avoid the same mistake.
Spartz’s comment is straight out of Stephen Miller’s playbook. He’s said so many times on the air. That whole cabal of Republicans are a criminal enterprise exercising their intent to destroy democracy for their own benefits. Simple.
To quote a line from Pete Townshend; The old boss,same as the old boss..
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/obama-administration-claims-unchecked-authority-kill-americans-outside-combat-zones
I
That should’ve read..
The NEW boss,same as the old boss!
I can’t pick a sentence or paragraph that is more glaring than the other in this AP article about Khalil, who had a “judge” in Louisiana declare the US could deport him due to his speech. He never committed a crime, nor was he arrested at Columbia. He talked with reporters and gave his name to the press because he was a spokesperson between the students and the administration.
If anybody watched his arrest in the student housing complex at Columbia in front of his pregnant wife should be absolutely furious. If I look out my windows and see masked individuals with an Avengers t-shirt, they can expect to see every 9mm bullet emptied from both clips and two blasts from a 12 gauge.
I can’t believe that a real judge approved his deportation for speech. For those not aware, a pro-Israeli social media group doxxed Khalil and turned him into the Trump administration. They did the same for a Brown University professor and numerous others.
I’m already hearing the names of potential Democratic presidential candidates for 2028. The only ones who get my vote are the ones who will help the “toxic-chemical winds shift” toward the broligarchy, Israel, AIPAC, ADL, white supremacy, MAGA, pro-Musk, Trump’s family, Stephen Miller, etc.
No more talking and “working with MAGA politicians. They need to be declared hostile to the USA and detained. It’s the same thing for a few judges in Louisiana and Texas. Maybe several in SCOTUS who’ve greenlighted Trump’s illegal acts.
We can add Musk and Thiel’s broligarchy, who are stealing our data from the federal government. If you think they are eliminating waste and fraud, you’re naive and don’t understand what artificial intelligence contains. The more data it has, the better the outcomes. The more data it has on us, the more we are screwed.
As far as I have witnessed thus far, the Democratic Party is just as guilty as the MAGA folks because all I have seen is weak-kneed responses. They look performative to me. Phony gestures to save face but lacking any hostility.
If politicians refuse to oppose these criminal acts, the people will have to prepare to do it themselves. The oligarchy has initiated a coup, and they’ll be working very hard to keep it.
https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-protester-ruling-deport-fd9e80583af3109d7de0a5264e79ea61
I’m coming to the conclusion that the imperative will be impeachment post overwhelmingly blue mid-terms, with the expressed need to abort any pardoning actions that would take place otherwise, in addition to the removal of our fuhrer. Trials to follow, hopefully accompanied by convictions of all having to do with this ruthless abandonment of the rule of law in this country. It will include the recent market manipulation and subsequent huge payoffs for all those who knew what was about to happen regarding tariffs. Go Blue!
I’m with you, Gil, but have doubts that trials will follow. But, first we have to have free, and as open as possible mid-term elections. Do not hold your breath, I am sad to say.
Is Ms. Spartz there only because of gerrymandering? Is she the product of a piss-poor educational system? Or, is she simply a fool?
Todd, you missed Aileen Cannon. She abdicated her legal duty due to her obvious incompetence and obstruction of justice. Oh. She was appointed by Trump 1.0.
Gil, I couldn’t agree more. Thing is, the orange monster will probably outlaw elections by then. This is a pure mob power grab.
A judge in Louisiana … I’m sure there are some good ones, but … Did anyone hear their Senator Kennedy accuse AOC of being the voice of the Democratic party and she’s the reason there are instructions on a shampoo bottle? What a guy. Must be all that oil company pollution in Louisiana … or something coming from the oil companies.
Vernon stated the issue of the day “Process and Progress”: “That whole cabal of Republicans are a criminal enterprise exercising their intent to destroy democracy for their own benefits.” The Republican’s goal of dictatorship by Trump’s continuing full immunity which is outside of the original approval of SCOTUS immunity for his actions during his first term in office. Their Process is reaping Progress.
Ian; I checked out the web site you entered which led to Anwar Al Aulaqi, a known American terrorist connected to al Quada and their connection to 9/11. Al Aulaqi was killed in a President Obama sanctioned drone attack against al Quada’s hiding place, leading to a court case regarding American killing of a known American terrorist outside combat zones. His father, Nassar Al Aulaqi naturally filed the case against his son’s death as being outside America’s range of authority. What is your point with this comparison of Trump with President Obama and Pete Townshend’s quote, a British musician who also composed radio jingles and TV commercial tunes…not unlike Charlie Sheen in the sitcom “Two and a Half Men”?
I have to agree with Todd’s comments regarding the Democrats’ “weak-kneed response”, NO action IS the action of supporting the status quo; they continue carrying to extreme Oliver Wilde’s quote, “Moderation in all things, including moderation.” Cory Booker’s over 25 hour heroic effort to unite Democrats has already faded into the past. Is it fear, laziness, lack of interest or lack of our own billionaires keeping them “week-kneed” and less than moderate in their actions? What exactly is their “Process” which is lacking “Progress” on any level?
We need to remember Barack Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope” foundation; when both parties came to the table to resolve our problems. Instead, the Democratic party chose to put themselves in the position of a Circular Firing Squad which President Obama warned them against…and “the wind shifted”.
There are moral, legal, financial, social, political, and objective explanations for the fact that the country left the orbit we occupied for 250 years that our Constitution defined. One is the lack of character and mental toughness among elected civil servants to stand up and say hell, no to MTV (Muskrat, Trump, and Vance supported by Mike Johnson).
Revolution is called for by every means we can muster if we are to defend attacks on liberal democracy from within as we did against external threats 80 years ago.
We call the defenders then “The Greatest Generation” because they bought us unprecedented prosperity, comfort, and personal and national safety by the stand they had to take.
Are we too prosperous now to find the courage to defend our rights and personal and national safety?
A former neighbor who is generally a nice person shared a post on FB that laid out the DOGE findings on Social Security (SSA). With the appropriate images, it tells a story of billions of dollars of fraud. It claims that millions of “illegal aliens” are getting payments from SSA and that there are hundreds of dead people who are getting payments. I’ve seen this type of post from her many times and I’ve tried to send her the truth. She ignores it, so this time I just shook my head and moved on.
I’m tired of trying to change minds. I’m tired of thinking that these are essentially good people who can be changed by facts. We need a reprogramming system to get into their heads, which is IMHO a scary place to be.
I think that I have mentioned before that when I was studying poly sci in college, we would discuss our rights with an acknowledgement that, in fact, we only have the rights the government allows us. The time we are in now, confirms that.
I repeat what I said several days ago: The Democrats in the House MUST introduce articles of impeachment against Trump NOW!
I have faith that there are enough sane Republicans in the House to get it passed.
In the spirit of “The Audacity of Hope,” I am praying that there are enough sane Republicans in the Senate that this time the imbecile will be convicted. And if he is, not even the corrupt Supreme Court is going to save him.
“What’s wrong” is not “behind the curtain” – it is glaring in our eyes. One mo’ time….take the energy for complaining and stating your fright and USE IT TO CHANGE YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT in November….
well we have crossed the lines. magarepublicans/billionaires have taken over. the so called law and order is now replaced with shut up or get deported. even citizens. erik prince is in talks with white house(per politico) to run a flyaway service for anyone who the whore house in DC crosses the line. free speech isnt free anymore.your tracked,ask the gov emplyees now. seems many of these billionaires have made their bucks from the government. and this is just another rip. the courts are just a place for local norms to be contested. but now speak out and your dead meat. the contractors in this scheme want to build and expand the el salvadore prison area to 100,000. and talks reveal to America buying land there and leasing it back to the prison there. the due process is done. If Abrago Garcia makes it back, then it opens a door to others. trump isnt havaing it. we are looking at a takeover by a dictatorship. the elected are full flege getting the mail out for donations. while we burn. we didnt make squat advances at the last protests,now we are getting rightwing law makers and some dinos passing save acts. NoDak doesnt want you to wear a hoody or mask during protests here.legislature is in session now on this.
(former u.s congress critter armstrong is gov.now)crying wolf. we have the largest UAV system growth anywhere on/over earth here in NoDak. isreal has now become bedfellows with this concept in NoDak. our former gov, now u.s. senate hoven has provivded money and whole bases for the contractors to build, train and use our whole state for spying. our universities are now training kids to produce without foresite what they are doing. every highway camera and street light in NoDak is now a center stage for this spying. it can hold a light red. follow you wherever,and whenever. this is tax payer dollars that have made NoDak a spy on its citizens for gain and, exposure. ask a legislater WTF, you get we didnt know,but they defend it.
I doubt if I can change my local government in November, but even if I can, waiting until then is a l losing strategy. All the resistance groups have ways to take actions NOW that will help. Go to any of their web sites, read their suggestions and take the actions that are available to you. See Hoosiers for Democracy, Hands Off, Indivisible, 50501, Nasty Women, Women for Change, etc.
The organizations are starting to come together. The time for action Is today!
im looking for some visble news,not social media garb. info. whos paying el salvadore and whos airlines are involved? . what is the policy on who feeds the people who were deported to el salvadore,? that pres is due at the black house in DC monday for further talks.
who gets the transcripts of that?
contact me direct if needed..
thanks,,best wishes.