Recent Justice Commentaries

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This is Where We Are
This is what irresponsibility looks like, where dishonesty thrives and “loyalty” trumps rationality. This isn’t a close call. This isn’t, well, you know, it might have been this, or maybe that. No. The January 6 attack on the Capitol building by fervent Trump supporters and armed extreme right insurrectionists is not opinion. It’s fact. Many of those who didn’t see...
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June 28, 2021
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The Storm After the Storming
The assault on Capitol Hill yesterday that the entire world witnessed was nothing less than a 9/11-like domestic insurgency willfully initiated by a president whose words of derision and division lit the match of anarchy akin to the Civil War. American history has endured irrational demagogues before – Joseph R. McCarthy, George Wallace. Now, we are experiencing the diseased, unhinged-from-reality...
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January 8, 2021
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How Can We Restore Our Faith in Democracy?
“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried.…” – Winston Churchill We think of America as exceptional, the leader of the free world, an example of doing the right thing. However, we’ve made our share of...
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November 23, 2020
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Lesson for Our Times
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice who was a fierce advocate for gender equality, died last Friday. In a statement released by the nation’s highest court, read, “Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said. “We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations...
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September 21, 2020
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From Conflict to Kindness
“To meet the challenge of our times… we must first defeat the enemy within.” —Robert F. Kennedy While Kennedy was addressing corruption in labor unions, he could have spoken those words today, given the multiple challenges we face: — A massive virus; unemployment; a struggling economy; companies struggling with new protections for workers and protocols for conducting business; attacks against...
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July 9, 2020
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The Second Most Dangerous Man in the Country
I always believed that Attorney General William Barr’s decision-making was biased toward Trump, but until Wednesday I never understood the utter contempt and lethality he has for the rule of law. Barr has decidedly moved from serving “at the pleasure of the president” to serving the President’s pleasures. Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Justice Department Oversight, Aaron Zelensky...
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June 26, 2020
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He’s Like Darth Vader Without the Warmth
Submitted for your consideration. Vader works on behalf of the Emperor. Barr works on behalf of a man who believes he is “Emperor.” When displeased, Vader chokes the life out of his minions. When displeased, Barr chokes the life out of the justice system. Vader intimidates with a dark suit and deep sullen voice. Barr intimidates with a cheap sullen...
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June 10, 2020
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Chaos or Community?
From New York to Atlanta; San Diego to DC. Nearly 40 cities are facing protests, many of them violent, that haven’t been seen for decades. Fire erupted in the basement of St. John’s Church in Washington as helicopters hovered over a city that has become a war zone. For a sixth straight day, the violence and vandalism has escalated —...
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June 1, 2020
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The Deeper Darkness
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence…” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Growing up in a Los Angeles suburb, I led a life safe from many of the troubles that took place only miles from where I lived. During the summer of ’65, those troubles exploded during a hot August night. Marquette Frye, a black, twenty-one-year old, was pulled over by...
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May 29, 2020
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The Meaning of Memorial Day
Note: I will return Friday. On May 30, 1868 Ohio Senator James A. Garfield gave the first address to a crowd of more than 5,000 at Arlington National Cemetery. The event, known then as Decoration Day, was organized to honor those who died during the Civil War. However, five years before Garfield’s address another political figure stood to deliver a...
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May 25, 2020