The Constitution or bust

 

“When human rights for some become debatable, we’ve lost as a civil society.” Dr. BLR

 

A month or so ago, I had a conversation with my niece about the state of this country. She has a little daughter and was concerned about specific books about Black Americans and other non-white groups being pulled from the shelves in libraries and bookstores. As a collector of several books on Black history, I assured her I had plenty to pass on to my children. She then asked me if I had a copy of the U.S. Constitution, which has seven articles and 27 amendments. I was baffled by why she asked me this question, because this is not something I thought she would be concerned with, given her age. As this was a FaceTime call, I told her to hold on while I retrieved my school bag. I went to my office, grabbed my bag, and returned. I then pulled out a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution that I keep with me. 

Over the years, I’ve become more attuned to the ins and outs of politics. While I don’t trust any elected politician, I look closely at how they vote on issues, particularly civil rights. More importantly, I started paying attention to the nine Supreme Court justices who decide cases affecting over 300 million Americans. To say the least, I am not impressed with a few of those selected and their lifetime appointments, and at least two have been accused of sexual misconduct. I digress. 

I’ve written on this platform before that I am a firm believer in many of the Amendments to the Constitution, especially the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth. You can research them to see how vitally important they are to many Americans, especially minorities.

For the millions of Americans who’ve paid attention to the erosion of our rights, now is the time to stay focused. Today, America, and probably many other countries, watched on social media as a law-abiding citizen and ICU VA nurse, Alex Pretti, exercised his First and Second Amendment rights and was murdered in the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota, by President Trump’s unprofessional and poorly trained federal officers. Words cannot express how disturbing it was to watch this again. In my wildest dreams, I never imagined a federal law enforcement agency, purporting to be professional, would act in such an egregious manner for a second time in a short period. Shootings by law enforcement officers are controversial, and this one is no different. However, I listened to the news conference given by the Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino regarding the shooting death of Mr. Pretti. If I hadn’t viewed the killing of Mr. Pretti with my own eyes from several different video angles, I would’ve thought that Mr. Pretti brandished a weapon and the federal agents took the necessary actions to subdue an armed suspect, but this wasn’t the case. I watched as the agents struggled with Mr. Pretti before disarming him. It was then that the federal agents executed Mr. Pretti. As I watched or listened to President Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and Commander Bovino stand before the press and blatantly lie and do damage control, I lost more faith in this government and humanity. And btw, that old line, “I feared for my life,” is not going to fly once we see the agent remove the weapon from Mr. Pretti. But who am I kidding? This same administration is suppressing documents regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files, which allegedly protect pedophiles. 

In a country that claims to be a democratic society governed by the rule of law, you’d think we could trust that the courts and government would exercise due deference and allow the legal process to run its course. However, this has not been the case under this administration. Social media has been used to undermine proper investigations on several occasions by those who should know better, but we are not dealing with someone who cares about anyone other than himself and his pocketbook.

One of the legal doctrines that has emboldened many of these federal agents is qualified immunity. To save you time looking it up, here is the definition: “Qualified immunity is a judicially created doctrine that protects government officials, including police officers, from being sued for actions taken within their discretionary duties. It shields officials from personal liability unless they violate a ‘clearly established’ statutory or constitutional right. If granted, the case is dismissed before trial.” 

When I was employed as a state trooper, I didn’t know this type of immunity existed. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t. I was proud of my behavior and didn’t need blanket immunity to govern it, because that was the Constitution’s role. I knew right from wrong and that citizens were afforded inalienable rights that should not be infringed, as the Constitution says. So why can’t we all read from the same sheet of music?

What happened to that law-abiding citizen will be under “investigation” by the federal government, so we can expect it to be whitewashed. So where does that leave us? I am at a loss for words because of what we are seeing with this government and its “secret” police force, or, as I think of them, modern-day slave catchers. Only time will tell, but the First and Second Amendments should make this government pay attention to its citizens. The founding fathers, who I guess were given authority to protect us from the government, knew enough about human behavior and how fallible humans, given an opportunity, would abuse power. That said, according to Frank Langfitt on NPR’s Up First, “Since President Trump’s second inauguration, more liberals, people of color, and LGBTQ folks say they are buying guns and getting training.” This tidbit should raise eyebrows because, while we just celebrated MLK Day, the old non-violent approach may not work with this new generation. 

In conclusion, we will either require everyone to abide by the U.S. Constitution as it was written or consider revising it to reflect the world we live in today. The face of America has been changing in ways the founding fathers could not have imagined, but they are dead, so we can take it from here.