A Positive Step on Separation of Church and State

Law and fairness mandated the Doña Ana County Commission’s refusal to celebrate “religious” speeches that insult some constituents.

Separation of church and state was extremely important to the nation’s founders, and our state’s. Madison listed non-establishment of religion first in our Bill of Rights. It’s stated even more explicitly in Article II, Section 11 of our state constitution, which proclaims freedom of worship and adds, “Nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship."

Whether or not sponsoring a day of prayer, without specifying the nature of the prayer, would withstand legal challenge isn’t clear-cut.

However, the context of the vote left a reasonable commissioner little choice.

I have no faith. I prize much of what Jesus and the Buddha are said to have said. I disliked religion when young, because I believed in equality and peace and saw churches hypocritically trampling all over those, although Jesus’s words seemed to suggest compassion. I learned in Tibet to respect the religious faith others guide their lives by, whether it’s Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, or the Mayan spiritual tradition, though I abhor how members of dominant faiths have sometimes treated minorities, or any violence over which god to follow how. Would Jesus want Catholics and Protestants fighting?

The non-establishment of religion our founders prized has remained important, in our modern world, where supposedly “Christian” voices abuse that faith to support exclusion, nationalism, contempt, and discrimination.

Again, Jesus’s words, and their spirit, are wonderful. Living by them is challenging but admirable. But the use of Jesus’s name to foment hatred and divisiveness, as speakers at past local “National Days of Prayer” have done, and as too many are doing across the nation, is un-Christian and un-American.

Our county commissioners represent all of us.

They represent Jews, whom the Catholic Church officially blamed for killing Jesus until about 1963. They represent Islamic immigrants, whose countries suffered “the Crusades,” European colonization, and U.S. imperialism, and who are ill-treated by our federal government. They represent Jews, atheists, and Muslims who have lost jobs or suffered discrimination for their beliefs. Probably Wiccans, too. And the tribes.

They represent women who’ve had abortions – something that was lawful and accepted in the U.S. colonies, but which rightwingers have (with no scriptural evidence of Jesus’s views) claimed Christianity abhors, and have used Christianity to criminalize – with draconian laws, in some states.

They represent gay, transgender, genderless, and just plain “queer” folks who get persecuted by some states in the name of Christianity and who’ve been the subject of hate speech at “Days of Prayer.” They represent men whose lives were destroyed as altar boys by the child molestation epidemic in the “celibate” Catholic Church. They represent Islamic or Hindu parents who wonder why their child was given Christmas-related projects and homework in public schools.

For Christians to worship, and to gather to worship, is wonderful. For Christians here to use “Christianity” (or Jews in the Middle East or Hindus in India with their faiths) as a weapon against others isn’t.

I believe all of us should be grateful each moment for life. But you may not, or may thank a god I never heard of. Great!

Given the “culture wars” and politicians’ use of them to divide and distract us, why not let everyone decide whether or not, and how, to worship. As the founders urged. And as the County heard.

                                                         – 30 --

 

[The above column appeared Sunday, 27 April, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, and

on the newspaper's website and the KRWG website (under Local Viewpoints). A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version will air during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and KTAL-LP (101.5M / http://www.lccommunityradio.org/.)]

Hell

Study the picture carefully. Men clad only in white shorts, each sitting with his butt on the floor between the knees of the man behind him, all shackled, in a place that tortures people.

You’re a decent sort. Can you imagine putting anyone into that situation? Take the young fools who started firing guns at each other among vulnerable bystanders in Young Park. I couldn’t put one there.

Study the picture. Imagine being one of those men. Stripped of your individuality; freedom a vague memory, no ability to stretch your body or move; never a book or newspaper or chocolate bar, from now until death frees you. Take long enough to let yourself truly imagine it. Imagine that your brother, lover, father, or son is there too, suffering, and knowing there could be no mercy or escape. Ever. Never even a game of chess of dominoes to exercise your mind – and damned sure no tennis or softball.

Imagine that vividly enough to form YOUR opinion of men who would put other men, most not even criminals, into that picture and into the custody of folks who violate human rights regularly, and perhaps enjoy it.

It’s like some old photographs we’ve seen. After months and years, these men will resemble those scared and skeletal Jews and socialists the Allies [our fathers] freed from Nazi concentration camps in 1945.

Understand that these same authorities could put us exactly there if we speak up against them. “But I’m a citizen!” you protest? Their jefe – our jefe – has said “homegrowns” are next. He considers Congresswoman Liz Cheney a criminal traitor.

We had a country where folks could speak up, right or wrong, agreeing or disagreeing with the government, because we had no King, Fṻhrer, or dictator but a democracy, where airing diverse viewpoints in New Hampshire town meetings was our founding dream.

Now contemplate that scientist arriving for a meeting here, getting her computer searched, and getting deported for writing something el jefe might not approve of. Nazi Germany wasn’t quite as paranoid; but, like the Nazis, we’re discouraging visitors, making decent folks uncomfortable and suggesting visitors are vulnerable; and decreasing our commitment to quality education and openness, which helped make us great. Hitler destroyed Picasso’s paintings and Donald Trump now chairs the Kennedy Center.

Just studying the details physically sickens me. Most of those men have absolutely no criminal record, anywhere. Of the men we sent to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorsimo, 90% have no U.S. criminal record, and just a dozen have serious charges against them. 90%. (The one admitted “administrative error,” Salvador’s jefe, sitting with ours, announced will not be returned.)

What evil could someone do to deserve a lifetime of this, 7,300 days of this torture, if a man lives 20 years. Or perhaps more than 10,000 “days!” A quarter of a million hours.

Can Christians read this and accept that YOU AND I are doing this to men who have never been shown to have murdered or raped, many of whom have never even been brought to trial on any charge? What mental gymnastics make this something Jesus would accept? Wouldn’t your just God sentence el jefe and the rest of us to his Hell, for putting these folks through ours?

Sometimes we have a duty to scream. Loud as we can. Hope some neighbors and friends awaken. Historians still argue about how much the average German knew.

                                                       – 30 –

 

[The above column appeared Sunday, 20 April, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, and on the newspaper’s website (more politely headlined, Watching Deportations and Considering Humanity and the KRWG website (under Local Viewpoints). A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version will air during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM / http://www.lccommunityradio.org/). ]

[There’s so much more to say about all this, of course. For a fig leaf of legality, Trump’s people reached back to an inapplicable old statute, last used during World War II, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. This rarely used wartime statute grants the president authority to detain or remove nationals of a hostile nation during times of war or invasion. We are not at war with Venezuela; and Venezuelan migrants have generally come here to escape Venezuela’s government, not as an invading force on its behalf. So the law is clearly inapplicable; and the terrible harm to the wrongly deported individuals sure warrants preliminary injunctive relief while the court consider that question, particularly since the U.S. and Salvadorean dictators have refused to return one person known to be wrongly deported, despite a court order. They seem to be saying that although they have a contract for Salvador to house these folks, for money, the U.S. can’t require the individual’s return as part of the contractual compliance. The U.S. Supreme Court didn’t act as it should have regarding the first group, but apparently has delayed and may prohibit transfer of another group. The courts have required that affected persons have a reasonable opportunity to contest deportation in court. Stay tuned. ]

[Meanwhile, Trump is chortling, “homegrowns next.” If he can deport U.S.-born alleged gang members to the Salvadorean prison notorious for violating folks’ human rights and due process, and every torturing folks, he can deport any of us there. Then pretend he can’t get us back if the courts so order! End of constitutional due process; and since he’s trying to use the justice system (and the IRS) against anyone who thinks or speaks independently, rather than only against criminals, a whole lot of people should feel threatened. That includes anyone who disagrees with Trump-Musk-Vance about anything, but also anyone who disagrees with some future president, of any party, about anything, because if Trump breaks down our legal protections, some successor could (though I hope and trust they wouldn’t) use abuse Trump-supporters in the same way.]

[The poor legal excuse for all this, and the Trump Administration's disregard for court orders, let the Supreme Court not only to set speed records in putting on a hold on another shipment of humans to hell, but to make clear its distrust for the Administration.  A prior order said that any more deportations must be preceded by an opportunity for the prospective deportee to challenge the action in court; but with the newest planned shipment, the administration gave folks a few hours, on Good Friday, to raise legal challenges, and had some already on buses.  The Supreme Court could read that as well as anyone and ordered the pause; and it do so even before the appellate court had offered an opinion on the ACLU's request for a stay.]

 

 

Protecting Jurors and Justice

Juries are on my mind because my radio co-host recently served on two and because of concerns raised by lawyers’ efforts to undo the jury verdict that former LCPD Officer Brad Lunsford was guilty of voluntary manslaughter.

Those efforts could endanger the jury system, by subjecting a juror to a wide-ranging inquisition; but Lunsford is surely entitled to a fair trial.

On April 1, the state supreme court granted a temporary stay that Attorney-General Raúl Torrez said was needed to protect the juror from harassment, calling the proposed questioning “an ideological witch hunt.”

I can’t judge Lunsford’s guilt or whether this is an ideological witch hunt. Most of what Juror #8 has said about hoping for equality, seeing racism in our society, and being glad other white moms were facing up to that racism after George Floyd, many would say – and still be able to judge fairly a specific police officer in an individual case. (Does saying people shouldn’t kill others mean you’re barred from Luigi Mangione’s jury? Does saying cops shouldn’t kill people without some justification mean you’re barred from Mr. Lunsford’s jury?)

Federal law strongly discourages such post-trial questioning. Even where a juror intentionally gave dishonest answers during jury selection, the U.S. Supreme Court has strictly limited lawyers’ questioning of jurors. To overturn a verdict, lawyers must prove a deliberate lie when the truth would have elicited a valid challenge for cause. No fishing expeditions.

We should avoid intrusive post-verdict questioning unless it’s absolutely necessary, partly because we want private citizens to give readily of their time when asked to serve on juries. Knowing that jury service will likely trigger public scrutiny won’t encourage that. Our modern predicament, with almost everyone filtering almost everything through a partisan political lens, heightens the dangers. Here, pro-Lunsford folks started an on-line harassment campaign, publicly accusing the juror of “a disgusting and blatant bias,” and being a Black Lives Matter activist, and lying to infiltrate the jury so as to convict a police officer.

The jury system depends upon frank and robust deliberations; but if chance comments are likely to lead to intrusive post-trial questions, deliberations will be far less open. If manditory post-verdict questioning were a routine part of jury service, some juries in controversial cases might reach verdicts designed to avoid hassles, not verdicts designed to do justice.

I hope the New Mexico Supreme Court sharply limits post-juror questioning. If Juror #8 intentionally answered falsely to a material question in voir dire, even lying by omission, questions directly relevant to that could be appropriate; but harassing jurors with post-trial fishing expeditions isn’t. This may be particularly urgent where a juror has dared to vote for criminal conviction of a police officer, when the local police chief publicly urged folks to support the defendant after the verdict. In all cases, we need jurors to feel free to vote as their consciences dictate, without fear of repercussions.

If I were a judge, I’d likely allow some questioning about her SURJ membership, what that meant, and why she didn’t mention it during voir dire; but, judging from Defendant’s brief, Defendant’s lawyers know most of the relevant facts. Let the courts decide whether or not they’re things she should have articulated in voir dire; and then decide, keeping in mind that she was one juror among 12, whether a new trial is warranted.

Hears hoping the New Mexico Supreme Court finds the right balance.

                                         – 30 – 

 

[The above column appeared Sunday, 13 April, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, and on the newspaper's website and the KRWG website (under Local Viewpoints). A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version aired during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM / http://www.lccommunityradio.org/). ]

[Sorry not to post this six days ago. I usually post the Sunday Sun-News columns here on Sundays, but didn’t manage it this time. It’s also a still-developing story I may return to, for discussion of related developments.]

Reflections on "Government Efficiency" -- and Wondering Whether Trump's Stupid Tariffs Are Kind of Clever for Trump

Efficiency is like speed: it doesn’t matter how fast you go if you don’t know where you’re going.

We’d all like government efficiency. Folks working reasonably hard,

only spending our money wisely; and not having seven management types directing someone how to replace a light bulb. And three checking her work.

But we might stop and ask, “do WHAT efficiently?” Having our government looking out for our best interests, whether in national security, criminal justice, overseeing medical care or fostering scientific development, or helping folks survive, we’d all like government to save the most cancer-ridden kids or build the most intimidating weapon as efficiently as possible.

Efficiency for us would mean getting an honest day’s work for a day’s pay from all public employees, protecting us from foreign attack without spending huge bucks on fancy but badly-designed weapons corporations can profitably sell us, treating the poor and disabled with compassion but not getting conned; and protecting us from the air and water pollution, dangerous or ineffective drugs, overly sharp business practices, and unhealthy food corporations plague us with, without endangering our economy. It’d mean government encouragement of science and quality education, because those are how we became pre-eminent in the world.

But efficiency for Musk-Trump and their corporations differs. They, like Calvin Cooolidge, believe, “The chief business of the American people is business.” For corporations, the bottom line and corporate survival are all that matter. Maximize shareholder return. That’s a corporation’s legal duty. Good citizenship is irrelevant.

So, for them, human services, whether to injured or PTSD-plagued veterans, children with cancer, folks born with terrible disabilities, old folks, or injured workers, are inefficient, so minimize those expenditures. Regulation of business is obviously counter-productive, so toss consumer protection, the EPA, and as many tax enforcers, drug inspectors, and antitrust lawyers as you can. Particularly experienced ones.

I don’t think my pickleball friends who love Mr. Trump elected him to destroy social security and mistreat war veterans.

They elected him to lower prices – not to increase them (and destroy our international alliances and economy) by imposing pointless and wildly excessive tariffs.

Tariffs are taxes you and I pay. By gathering money from what amounts to a sales tax on our purchases of cars, computers, and food, the government can afford to lower taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Some folks are starting to recognize that incompetence trumps ideas and ideologies. (yeah, pun acknowledged.) Mr. Trump wants to foster a highly-profitable and successful economy; but his arbitrary tariffs (and the uncertainty generated by having Elon Musk run the country) have the stock market in the tank, mortgage interest rates rising, and home prices falling.

Particularly since any complex product, including a pickup truck, contains parts that have crossed borders, been improved or connected, then recrossed borders, the added costs could be crazy.

Meanwhile, China is laughing. Trump’s tariffs are driving our friends into China’s arms; we’re undoing our financial primacy in the world; our “efficient” jettisoning of long-range stuff like education and science, and our absence of intelligent leadership, help pave China’s road toward world leadership. (Abruptly ending USAID programs, which quietly helped our position in the world, is just one more courtesy to China.) Meanwhile, embarrassments like the Signal “secret conference” – stupidly held on an insecure application, then including gratuitous insults to allies – is one more huge red flag for anyone thinking of trusting us.

Well, just 45 more months left.

                          – 30 --

 

[The above column appeared Sunday, 6 April, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, and on the newspaper's website, and should be posted soon on the KRWG website under Local Viewpoints. A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version will air during the coming week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM / http://www.lccommunityradio.org/). ]

[There’s plenty more to say, but economists and experts are saying it better. We need focus on how devastating Trump’s combination of narcissism, greed, and stupidity could be for our government. Even if democracy survives, and even if other countries don’t take full advantage of his putting beginners into top national security positions and firing the head guy in charge of cyberdefense, and even if the tariffs leave us some friends and some vestige of a decent economy, it’ll be a long time before we regain other countries’ respect and are again able to handle emergencies, manage social security, treat veterans, oversee health care, and do all the other things we like government to do. Trump voters are not immune to disease or PTSD, but may or may not, when they can not get the usual services, recognize who’s to blame.

Long term, we’re undermining the quality of our education, frightening away foreign tourists, intimidating foreign experts and students, cutting support for scientific and medical research, and, basically, eliminating needed staff from everything. China won’t do that, and its long-term battle to match or exceed us in many areas, and to become the world’s first among equals, just got a hell of a boost from Mr. Trump. And the growth of climate weirdness, endangering our species and killing off others, goes unchecked, at least by us, Yemen, and Iran. (Other countries get it.)

I wish us good luck. We don’t deserve it. ]