The slow drip of tyranny

I came across the following message on one of the listservs I frequent the other day:

When did we as a society decide it was ok for the government to put electronic policing devices in our private homes and cars and to make up pee in cups every time we turn around? who is to blame? 

If everyone simply refused to comply with those conditions, what would happen?

Freedom is what would happen.

But it won't. We live in a society of lemmings. Few people are willing to rock the boat and those that do are labeled "troublemaker" and "subversive."

We have meekly turned to the state and asked it to protect us. We have decided that we would rather be safe than free. That we would rather have order than liberty.

We have sat by and watched as the state has whittled down the protections of the Bill of Rights. We have stood by as the police and courts have sliced, diced and chopped the Fourth Amendment into a meaningless melange of words on a piece of paper. Words now devoid of meaning.

We did nothing as the state assaulted our right to remain silent and not incriminate ourselves. We stood in awe as the Supreme Court made a mockery of the Fifth Amendment. Instead of having the right to remain silent and speak with an attorney before answering questions, the state now has the right to question us without an attorney unless we say otherwise.

We sat there blissfully unaware as our right to counsel was cut out from underneath us. We've allowed the Supreme Court to decide just what constitutes a critical moment in the criminal (in)justice system. I'm sorry, but being accosted by the police is the critical moment. Did someone along the way forget that we have the right to be left alone?

We have gladly handed over our freedom to the tools of the police state at airports and at the entrances to courthouses across this land. We have allowed the state to molest our children and terrorize the old, the sick and the infirm in the name of "protecting" us from terrorism.

We have gone from a society in which men were not afraid to sign their own death warrant by signing the Declaration of Independence to a society in which we are scared shitless to do anything that might bring attention to ourselves. We have gone from a society that took up arms and fought for its independence to a society that willingly bends over and takes whatever the state sends our way.

Why are we were we are now? It's because no one drew a line in the dirt and dared the powers of the state to cross it. It's because no one was willing to stand up and challenge the authorities.

Thomas Jefferson once said that "every generation needs a revolution."

We had one in 1776. Another one in the 1860's. Maybe it's time. Again.

Judge not lest you be judged

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent is not the only federal jurist in hot water for misbehavior. While Judge Kent's alleged misconduct has resulted in an indictment for federal sex crimes, his colleagues' misconduct has yet to result in any criminal investigations.


Thomas Porteous, a U.S. District Judge in New Orleans, is facing a possible impeachment over allegations he perjured himself regarding a bankruptcy filing and accepted gifts and money. He has been suspended from the bench. Judge Porteous filed for bankruptcy under a false name and attempted to hide evidence of his gambling losses. Porteous escaped criminal sanction as a result of the immunity he was granted as part of the disciplinary process.


Edward Nottingham, a U.S. District Judge from Denver, is being investigated due to his hobbies of going to topless clubs and frequenting escort services. Judge Nottingham has defended himself by blaming his problems on his own weaknesses. Funny, but that never seems to matter to the prosecutors at the Harris County (In)justice Center.

Manuel Real, a U.S. District Judge from Los Angeles, is in hot water as a result of his failing to provide reasons for his legal decisions -- admittedly a very important part of what a judge is supposed to do.


Finally, Alex Kozinski, a Federal Appellate Judge for the 9th Circuit, decided that putting sexually explicit material on his personal website was a good idea. I guess he never saw the commercial warning teenage girls not to post photos on the internet they wouldn't want their parents to see. Judge Kozinski requested that the investigation be conducted by another circuit.



All five judges are still being paid -- and will continue to be paid, as per the U.S. Constitution, until such time as they resign or are removed from office. Nice work if you can get it.