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• Breaking the Law
• Obey Your Leader

There are people — Americans — being arrested for various acts, such as helping some immigrants (who have been convicted of nothing) to evade summary deportations to foreign prisons where they may never be heard from again.So, mostly to get this off my chest, I am writing a series of short essays. You’re welcome to read them, or not. No response is required.Instead, maybe just think for a minute how history sees certain acts of justifiable lawlessness.

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Breaking the Law ...

“Breaking the law is never the right thing to do, except that one time when …”

Freedom of Speech

05/03/2025Carl had one of the jobs that seems to be most reviled by about half of our population nowadays: Journalist.He was a thorn in the side of the political leadership. Because he and others criticized the political leadership, laws were passed that made such criticism illegal.In the United States, Freedom of the Press was enshrined in our Constitution in 1791 with the First Amendment. It is similar to Freedom of Speech, also enshrined in our Constitution, with one exception.Freedom of the Press provides the freedom for a PUBLISHER to publish the works of a writer, blogger, reporter, etc. If you are reading this on Facebook (the Publisher), it means Facebook is allowing this essay to be posted. Tomorrow, Facebook could delete this essay, and the Government could not force it to re-post it. If Facebook does delete it, I can choose to self-publish it, or find another Publisher.Freedom of Speech is what allows me to write this in the first place.
In Carl’s case, laws were passed that made it illegal to do either of these things. So the Journalist could be punished for his/her criticism of the Government, AND the Publisher could be punished for disseminating it.One good reason for keeping Freedom of the Press in our country is the fact that we often change our leadership, both in a personal sense, and in a political sense. So while a current President might, let’s say, publicly state that a certain newspaper, TV network, etc., is committing criminal acts as an “enemy of the people,” the shoe could be on the other foot a few years later.That’s not the case in a dictatorship. The dictator, by definition, intends to retain power indefinitely. That’s why Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech are often the first targets of a would-be dictator or authoritarian government. It also is why such leaders and governments get away with lies.It doesn’t have to start with laws. It could start with edicts curtailing access to government workings of certain Journalists, or their Publishers. The government could even make moves to shut down the Publisher or Broadcaster.In many cases, thankfully, the Journalist and Publisher will keep complaining, and digging even deeper. That’s when laws targeting the Journalists and Publishers are enacted.The U.S. was not the first to specifically allow Freedom of the Press, by the way. It’s been in Sweden’s constitution since 1766.Back to Carl, who discovered his government was re-arming in violation of a treaty, so he wrote about it. He also wrote about thugs who — working at the government’s behest — held “trials,” of which the accused wasn’t aware. If found ”guilty,” the thugs would carry out executions of those found “guilty.”That in itself was, of course, just for show. In our country, nobody is put into prison without due process. (Or, at least, it used to be that way.)Carl was arrested for treason, and for writing about government secrets regarding its re-arming in violation of its agreements with other countries. The fact that the stories were true didn’t matter.
He wrote about the increasingly racist views of his countrymen, promoted and inflamed by his government. He said there was “a strong smell of blood in the air,” that government leaders’ racism “…forges the moral weapon for murder.”Who would commit those murders?“Sturdy and honest lads will take care of the rest,” he wrote, sardonically.He was right, although the world would not believe him until it was too late.Carl was arrested, twice, for telling the truth. He was sentenced the first time to 18 months in prison. The second time, he was one of only a few Journalists left in his country that still dared to criticize the government and its leaders — again, by telling the truth. He was thrown into prison under “protective custody,” because dictatorships and authoritarian governments say they are doing the right thing, when they are not.He was tortured. His guards starved and beat him. His government was fine with that.
A Red Cross visitor to Carl in prison said he was, "a trembling, deadly pale something, a creature that appeared to be without feeling, one eye swollen, teeth knocked out, dragging a broken, badly healed leg … a human being who had reached the uttermost limits of what could be borne."I was a journalist. If I could say I had 1 percent of Carl von Ossietzky’s courage, I would be proud.While in prison, Carl won the Nobel Peace Prize. His government refused to allow him to travel to Norway to accept it. One of the leaders of his government, a pig named Hermann Göring, tried to convince him to reject it. His life likely would have been spared, if so.He accepted it in writing.Carl von Ossietzky died from tuberculosis in the hospital on May 4, 1938, with Gestapo guards at his bedside.Within a few years, tens of millions of people died in World War II, many of them murdered by the people Carl criticized. But that was not because of the efforts of Carl von Ossietzky — a hero who deserves to finally have his country, Germany, exonerate him nearly 90 years after it murdered him. So far, it has not.Hermann Göring escaped justice by killing himself, like the spineless coward he was.So did his filthy boss.

Due Process

04/29/2025This is a story about a very young man named Nathan.Nathan was born in a colony of, let’s call it, “ABC Country.” This country was, at the time, the richest on Earth, and had the most powerful military the world had ever known.As such, Nathan was subject to the laws of the country, as we are here.But there was a group that thought the leadership of ABC Country was not being responsive to their needs. They paid taxes, but felt ignored.In violation of the law, and in an act of treason, the group rebelled against ABC Country. It was fairly pathetic at first, as rebellions go. In fact, their rebellion nearly died out several times. Losses piled up because, after all, they were facing down a large and powerful foe.Nathan was bright, having graduated from a prestigious university. He joined the resistance at the age of 20, because he agreed with the rebels’ cause.One day, the rebels’ leader asked for someone to sneak into an area held by ABC County. It was a dangerous mission.One person volunteered: Nathan.On his first mission, he was lured into discussing plans with someone he thought was a friend, and arrested. Nobody knows what Nathan told his captors, but it’s clear that he did not reveal the identities of his fellow rebels.Nathan requested a Bible, but it was denied. He requested a clergyman to speak with, and it too was denied. He requested some paper to write letters to his brother and his commander, which was allowed. However, those papers were torn up in front of him the next day and are lost to history.How did his trial go?It didn’t. There was no trial, because among the outrages that ABC Country imposed upon their own people was a refusal to provide “due process.”Due process is not difficult to understand, but it is critically important.It is the fundamental principle of fairness in legal matters, ensuring individuals are treated justly by the ruling authority, and that their rights are protected — even if it is absolutely clear that the person is guilty. It means ANY PERSON has the absolute right to fair procedures before any government can deprive them of life and liberty.Can a person violate your due process? No, unless that person is part of the government. Due process is ONLY something that the government can convey, or take away.Think of due process like your right to peaceably assemble. That’s what allows you practice your religion with other people, meet with friends at a bar and discuss politics, or to protest against the government at City Hall.You are not free to assemble in a neighbor’s house, however, unless they invite you in. You are not allowed to protest violently by breaking into government buildings and assaulting people trying to protect those buildings.But the government MUST allow you to assemble peaceably. And the government MUST provide you, and any other person, with due process before you are fined, sent to prison, or put to death.Just one day after he was captured, Nathan was hanged.Nathan had no friends who saw him die. The ABC Country authorities did apparently allow him to make a final statement, the accounts of which vary. But they all center on a particular theme. One of the accounts said he quoted from a play written a few decades earlier:How beautiful is death, when earn'd by virtue!
Who would not be that youth? What pity is it
That we can die but once to serve our country.You might notice that Nathan mentioned “our country.” That’s because, by the time he was illegally hanged, the people of the colonies had declared themselves to be independent — a new country dedicated to the rights of “all men,” such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — and due process.The authority that hanged him was Great Britain.The rebel leader who asked for volunteers was George Washington.The body of Nathan, last name Hale, was never found. It was likely dragged after his hanging and dumped in a hole near present-day 66th Street and Third Avenue in New York City. If you stand in that intersection now, you’ll see a Starbucks on one of the corners.But he was not forgotten. The barely-adult Nathan Hale is the namesake of many schools and government buildings in our country. Statues of him can be found in many places, despite the fact that he was a law-breaker. But his face on those statues is a product of the imagination of the sculptors, because no image of Nathan Hale exists. No, he is not forgotten.Twenty-one-year-old Nathan, a Yale University graduate.Nathan — who should have gone on to marry a sweetheart and have a bunch of kids — violated a law that Great Britain considered worse than murder. And without a trial, in violation of his right to due process, he was murdered.

Less Worthy than the Worst Man

04/25/2025Fifteen women in Rochester, New York, committed a crime in 1872 that was so heinous that it galvanized a large portion of the entire country against them. A woman named Susan was their leader.Many organizations were opposed to the efforts of Susan and the the 14 other women. One such organization‘s position was, “Because it is unwise to risk the good we already have for the evil which may occur.”A newspaper in Rochester called the womens’ actions, “criminal and ridiculous.”
Think of those statements as the viral memes of their time, except today they would be on your Facebook feed 10 times a day.What was their evil crime?They voted.Susan, the ringleader of the gang of scofflaws, was arrested and tried in Federal court. A jury (all men) heard the trial. The judge instructed them to find her guilty. They did.Susan was fined $100. She refused to pay. The judge could have sent her back to jail, but knowing the case could then be referred to the U.S. Supreme Court, he simply released her. Agents later tried to collect the $100 fine, but she continued to flaunt the law and refused.Susan was hated by many. But that was not the first time. She also opposed slavery, when it was still legal. I hope, had I been alive then, I would have supported Susan’s efforts in the face of injustice, even though she broke laws. I wonder if I would have had the same courage she had.What was Susan‘s defense? What was so important that it led her to risk her freedom?She argued that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution gives all citizens the same rights; that if women could be taxed for their work, convicted of crimes and hung for some of them, they should enjoy the same rights as men, and; as the supreme law of the land, the Constitution should cancel out the New York law that said she was less worthy than the worst man.That sparked a wider movement. But it would take more than four more decades for our country to come around and officially allow women to vote in Federal elections.
In 2020, a hundred years after the 19th Amendment “gave” women a right they had all along, President Trump — somewhat ironically — issued a symbolic pardon to Susan. Long after her death, and with no family to accept it, the pardon was rejected by the leadership of the Rochester museum that was her house for 40 years. In fact, her arrest occured in the parlor of that house.Incidentally, Susan B. Anthony voted in that 1872 election for Ulysses S. Grant.The $100 fine has yet to be paid.

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Obey Your Leader

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