Justice for Me, Not for Thee

Elections have consequences. Presidents are welcome to change policies on a range of issues. But a president cannot choose which parts of the Constitution to follow and which parts to ignore. In the same way that we would not want any administration by executive action to have authority to mandate confiscation of all firearms ( 2nd amendment), we should not want any administration to eliminate due process for each of us, ( 5th and 14th amendments). 

At Restore the Balance, we reaffirm our commitment to the Rule of law and the Constitution, especially now because the historical balance of power between the executive branch and the judiciary and legislative branches is threatened. Right now, our legislative branch is being totally superseded by executive orders; and the judicial branch appears to be blatantly ignored by the executive branch. 

Some background: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legal resident of Maryland, who is married to an American citizen, with several small children, was mistakenly picked up and summarily sent off to a hellhole of a prison in El Salvador. He did not receive any kind of hearing to determine whether, in fact, he should be deported or to what destination. (So far, the only evidence that the administration presented for Mr. Garcia’s purported gang membership consists of one person’s report from long ago). He has no criminal record in the last 14 years that he has lived here. The administration admits this representation of the facts. It admits he was not just deported mistakenly, but deported and incarcerated. The entire case is about due process---it’s not about illegal immigration. In fact, if Mr. Garcia is returned to the US, during a hearing it may be found that he should be deported.

The Supreme Court affirmed in a unanimous decision that Mr. Garcia has a right to due process and therefore should have had the opportunity for a hearing before being nabbed and spirited off to a Salvadoran prison. The administration now claims impotence to have Mr. Garcia released to come back for said hearing/trial (due process). It is simply not credible that the president has no power over the Salvadoran government to release this man who the American government is paying El Salvador to incarcerate. 

What prevents the government from making more “mistakes”, scooping up anyone who looks questionably criminal?  The government could use the same reasoning—or lack of reasoning--to conduct outright political manhunts, disappearing pesky journalists or insufficiently loyal citizens without any justification, hearing, or trial. This is patently unconstitutional. And the president has already floated the idea of using this tactic for so-called “homegrown criminals” as well. Once again, if there is no expectation of due process, then no evidence of wrong-doing is required.  If there is no presumption of innocence, and no right to due process, then any one of us can become a target. Justice will indeed have become truly weaponized.  

This “selective” justice should concern us all. Each of us has a Constitutionally-guaranteed right to due process, even if we are culpable. The next person to be carted away to a foreign prison with no recourse could be your neighbor or your brother or you. As citizens we have to comply with the law; our government officials also have to comply with the law.

  If one man can decide what's allowable and what's not under the law, then that is not an American democracy. That is what our country’s founders desperately wanted to prevent. That's one reason we are members of Restore the Balance. We believe our politics must become more civil, our federal courts more explicit, and our politicians more courageous, all in the protection of the Constitution, and the Rule of Law. If we like having freedom of speech, the right to representation, the right to privacy, and so many of our other freedoms, now is the time for all of us to speak out. We should call our Congressmen and Senators. But, for heaven’s sake, we all need to start paying attention before we lose a cornerstone of what makes America great.

Betsy Longenecker

Grand Junction

Member Restore the Balance

https://www.restorethebalance.org/