Due Process Part II

 

            As a young private in the Army, I felt that my rights were often trampled on, and they were. As a soldier, you give up many rights. I found that I could not say anything that came to my mind. I could not wear my hair as long as I liked, nor could I grow a beard. My moustache had to conform to what someone else thought was appropriate. My sergeants told me what to wear and what to do. Someone off in the deep dark bowls of PERSCOM (Personnel Support Command) told me where to live. I endured all of these constraints in order to say I was a soldier. But one of the few rights I still enjoyed was due process.

Once when I was in trouble, I was hauled in front of my company commander. The first thing that he did was to read me my rights. Knowing that I had behaved badly, we’ll not go into the details here, I threw myself on his mercy. He, in turn, handed me over to the 1SG for extra duty. I learned my lesson and did not make the same mistake again. But, had I desired, he would have provided me with a lawyer to give me counsel. Later in my  soldierly career as a commander, I periodically read my troops their rights and afforded them due process. Sometimes, I knew the end from the beginning. I knew my troops; however, I always allowed the process to play out. It was important to do so. After all, just having the power did not excuse abusing it.

One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to round up and deport undocumented immigrants. He now pursues the fulfillment of that promise with great vigor. In his haste, he willingly tramples on due process and civil rights.

“We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years.” President Trump on Truth Social

One of the challenges of living in a civilized law-abiding society is that it is often inconvenient and takes time and effort. After all, it is much simpler to form a posse and then string-‘em-up. Why bother with the process of a trial? Sadly, group think rarely provides good answers to difficult questions. Though imperfect, the judicial process provides the best protection for individuals and society. In any culture, the weak need protection from the strong. As President Truman said,

“The guilty as well as the innocent are entitled to due process of law. They are entitled to a fair trial. They are entitled to counsel. They are entitled to fair treatment from the police. The law enforcement officer has the same duty as the citizen-indeed, he has a higher duty-to abide by the letter and spirit of our Constitution and laws. You yourselves must be careful to obey the letter of the law. You yourselves must be intellectually honest in the enforcement of the law.” Harry S. Truman

When we discard due process, the weak innocent fall victim to haste and animus. This is the case with a two-year-old girl known in court papers only as V.M.L. Her mother, a citizen of Honduras was deported. Her father, a U.S. citizen sought to keep his daughter, another U.S. citizen, here. Again, in its haste, the Trump Administration has deported someone who had every right to remain in our nation, this time a citizen. As a nation we have the responsibility to protect the weakest among us.

“Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil [and] strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil.” David Gemmell

            A two-year-old girl poses no threat to our nation. We do not know about her mother as she was denied due process, that messy and inconvenient thing. But that process is what protects all of us, the strong as well as the weak. We must speak up for the weakest in our society. Our strength as a nation does not flow from our weapons, manufacturing prowess, or large bank accounts. It flows from our willingness to shoulder the burden of doing the right thing, even when it is inconvenient. We claim to be a law-abiding nation whose legal system is founded upon Judeo-Christian morality. We need to remember this passage from Proverbs, a great book of wisdom:

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:8-9

 

Fixing a Mistake to Restore Due Process

I have made many mistakes in my life, some large and egregious others minor and inconsequential. Large or small, the best thing that I could do after making a mistake was to admit it and then do my best to correct it. Fortunately, most of my failings were such that I could immediately apply a remedy. A few, that I’d rather not detail, were of such a nature that I could not repair the wrong. Such is not the case with the U.S. government and Abrego Garcia.

Scooped up in an aggressive ICE raid, Abrego Garcia was improperly deported to El Salvador. The Trump administration admits the mistake, citing an administrative error, yet they refuse to take the steps necessary to rectify their mistake, even in the face of a Supreme Court requirement. They have even used the fig-leaf of getting the president of El Salvador to publicly refuse as their most current reason. Such a callus refusal to observe due process and right and obvious wrong ought to sound the klaxon in the hearts, minds, and souls of Americans.

Garcia arrived on our shores seeking refuge from the criminal gang life in his home country and was granted protected status by our government. For that same government to refuse to correct an administrative error, leaving him incarcerated on foreign soil strikes at the foundational structures of freedom, due process, checks and balances. What is to keep the executive branch from denying me due process should they make a mistake?  I understand the reluctance to correct an error. I do not enjoy admitting that I’m wrong; however, adult behavior requires it when I make a mistake. For the current administration to simply ignore another branch of government is unacceptable, no matter which party one belongs to.

All of us should clamor for the immediate return of Mr. Garcia. If we fail to register our displeasure at this, we fail to help the most helpless in their time of extreme need. We all have much at stake in this issue. How can we stand for freedom if we continue to allow our government to sweep up individuals and deport them to incarceration based on flimsy evidence and no chance to plead their case or have appropriate representation? Much of the evidence used is grounded on tattoos and in the case of Mr. Garcia an assumed connection based on an incorrect identification of his location. Despite all of this and a Supreme Court requirement to facilitate his return, the administration refuses to return him and afford him the due process required by our legal system.

Due process is a critical component of our legal system. It is the mechanism which protects individuals from incorrect prosecution and incarceration. Though it takes time and effort, it keeps us from wrongly punishing individuals, citizens and aliens alike. The current administration seems bent on ignoring due process. Those of us who claim the name of Christ must cry out. Scripture reminds us of how the Lord looks at this issue:

33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:33-34 English Standard Version

Our brutal treatment of these individuals does not reflect our commitment to law, order, justice, and protection of the weak. We need to reaffirm our commitment to these foundational concepts. These are the things that make a nation great; not the heartless exercise of power and might. We need to revisit the Sonnet by Emma Lazarus found on the Statue of Liberty:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, 

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

 “…Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” Jesus of Nazareth in Luke 12:48b

As a shavetail lieutenant, my position required that I secure a Top-Secret clearance. As I have a somewhat colorful past, I was concerned about making it through the investigation process. But since I told them the truth up front, they were not surprised when they came across the random skeleton or two…or three. I was quite excited when I was finally allowed behind the “green-door." After reading about a million pages explaining how to handle classified material, including a large section devoted to the penalties of divulging national secrets, I signed on several dotted lines and was granted access. 

        What a let-down. I expected more exiting information. But hey, I was just a Second-Lieutenant and in the Army you start small. As my career progressed, I gained more responsibility and earned more trust, and the stakes grew higher and the information much more sensitive. I also learned a great deal about the systems we use to keep our secrets and why they are so important. Eventually towards the end of my career, I worked at very high levels requiring detailed excursions into my background to ensure that I was indeed trustworthy. To whom much is given, much is required. That is why the recent leak and ensuing chaos grieves me so.

This failure reveals significant problems within the current administration. When we circumvent the clearance granting system and the associated investigations, we assume great risk. This failure reveals three problem areas.

First, when we hire inexperienced and untrained individuals, they often make mistakes. As an inexperienced lieutenant, I had no idea about the complexity of how we gather, investigate, protect, and exploit sensitive information. Understanding how the various levels of classification interact and the human, physical, and automated systems we use to both disseminate and protect sensitive information takes time. Individuals with no experience must willingly take the time to learn how all this works, and accept the guidance of more experienced individuals.

Second, when we grant prideful individuals access, we assume great risk. Hubris leads individuals to believe that they know better. Our current cultural milieu tends to disdain education and experience. Large swaths of our society disregard not only those with more training and experience but the process of gaining knowledge and understanding. Disrespect for the systems, processes, and procedures leads to taking shortcuts and inevitable mistakes. In the realm of national defense and shortcuts and mistakes lead to lost opportunities and lives. An enemy just knowing that we know puts lives in peril. In this arena, we must take long-term goals and objectives into account.

  Third, people in leadership must act responsibly. If our overarching objective is to tear down and destroy without a clear picture of what the new looks like, then we often ruin things that we truly want to keep. Reductions in force may be a necessary and laudable goal, but great responsibility requires the ability to manage a variety of often competing requirements. Understanding this and making appropriate and responsible decisions takes intellectual and emotional maturity; traits normally born out of long experience.  Those who are simply infatuated with the exercise of power often take steps or shortcuts which do not serve our nation well. 

This world is a dangerous and complicated place. Understanding how to best use and leverage our enormous power takes great wisdom. Simply swaggering around and assuming that you know better because of a title granted not from experience, but from political expedience, does not serve the nation well. A myopic viewpoint which acts without careful consideration misses opportunities and frequently embraces vulnerabilities through impetuousness. Those in positions of power and leadership must forgo arrogant belligerence and assuming that they know better simply because they express disdain for those and what came before. Positions of great responsibility and power require teachable leaders equipped with wisdom and patience. Positions, such as the Secretary of Defense, require much more than simple fealty to the president and a desire to raze things to the ground. We need thoughtful men and women who not only seek to implement the President’s agenda but also keep the nation’s safety in mind.