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The
Erosion of Constitutional Laws and Justice in America
By:
George Pararas-Carayannis, Ph.D.
 America is a great country with
the best Constitution in the world. Only a few years ago, our
country was the champion of righteousness willing to defend,
not only our own but the democratic values of other nations.
Our government advocated human rights and criticized severely
foreign governments that were oppressive. We, as citizens, prided
ourselves in our civil rights and the liberties guaranteed by
a Constitution our forefathers had so perfectly crafted.
Unfortunately in recent years, like insidious viruses lying dormant
in an environment of growing public apathy and complacency, unknown
forces begun their gradual takeover of our country. Through trickery
and disinformation, agents of such forces - some financed, directed
or secretly manipulated by foreign sources - gained gradual acceptance
and power within our society. They infiltrated our government,
our agencies and institutions. No one suspected their existence,
ill motives or hidden agendas. Very few people understood what
was happening.
Beginning in the 1970's, a secret power base was planted within
the infrastructure of our society and the permanent bureaucracies
of government agencies. In a few short years, the evil power
structure grew in numbers. Presently, it operates independently
of changing administrations or Congress. Its purpose: to serve
the special interests and the further enrichment of an "elite
and privileged minority", while oppressing and controlling
the rights, freedoms, and economic welfare of the vast majority
of Americans.
Evil, unaccountable agents within government bureaucracies -
often, unwittingly serving their anonymous elitist masters -
have systematically and perversely made gradual, well camouflaged
changes in our laws. Often, these new laws make a mockery of
our Constitution. Freedoms and liberties are continuously being
undermined. There is a constant erosion of our rights as sovereigns
of this nation. The majority of Americans are further controlled,
deceived and massively brainwashed through the manipulation of
the controlled media. Sports, TV soaps, an abundance of consumer
goods, immense advertising, and extensive availability of credit,
keep Americans busy watching TV, sports, shopping, and in constant
debt.
Awareness of what is happening in our country are being cleverly
obstructed by promoting a gluttonous appetite for consumer goods
and entertainment. Confused by the misinformation, and intoxicated
by the euphoria of consumerism, we are dancing, like marionettes,
to the tunes the elitist gangs are playing. Like the mice in
"Skinner's box", we are content by the generous feeding,
and are willing to accept a fate "beyond freedom or dignity"
, staying well within the walls of our spiritual prisons. How
quickly we forgot the looting of the Savings and Loans in the
1980's? How ironical it is that we now even vote to reinstall
in public office, the same people and their accomplishes that
robbed us and our children and even took our parents' retirement
savings?
The manipulative efforts to control our minds and the ways we
think and act, are part of a well disguised, cultural/political
evolution which begun some time ago, but has now gained momentum.
There are relentless efforts to do away with our Constitution
which stands in the way of total control. What is happening is
a form of well disguised tyranny, the worse kind of tyranny that
exists, because its false facade of righteousness misleads Americans
into gradual submission. It is tyranny sweetened with an abundance
of consumer goods, illusions of justice, and false expectations.
It is tyranny capitalizing on our fears. Nonetheless, it is tyranny
reminiscent of the evolution of early fascism.
Subversive processes are giving rebirth to every evil monster
our country had battled against in the past and seemingly had
vanquished. Through the passage of unconstitutional laws under
the pretext of the "War on Drugs", "Crime"
or "Antiterrorism" - and other, seemingly, well intended
issues (intentionally blown out of proportion or reality) - and
without even realizing the deception, Americans are being robbed
systematically of their basic Constitutional freedoms and liberties.
History clearly is repeating itself. This has always been the
terminal phase in the evolutionary cycle of every empire that
ever existed on this earth. The United States of America, if
allowed to continue on this present course, it will degenerate
into a blatant tyranny, an "evil empire" whose citizens
will live in great fear of their Government.
Already, Americans are living in great fear of government agencies
with known tyrannical predisposition; agencies which were established
to serve the needs of the people, but now have become masters
and oppressors. The rights of Americans and the powers of the
States are slowly taken away by the Federal Government which
has grown into a huge uncontrollable bureaucratic monster. Americans
are slowly being stripped of their dignity and freedom by the
very same Government that was supposed to serve them as their
agent. Orwell's "1984", is finally upon us. Our every
move is being watched. The United States of America and its,
once, proud citizens are being held hostage, manipulated and
controlled through massive deceptions, disinformation, fear,
and unconstitutional new laws. Sadly, America, our country, once
the champion of freedom and human rights, is now rapidly changing
into a Police State prosecuting and persecuting its own citizens,
primarily through unconstitutional laws and abuses of the judicial
process.
Civil rights
and liberties are in great danger.
 Our civil rights and liberties,
so cherished in the past by the fathers of our country, are in
great danger. Our Constitution , so cleverly designed by the
fathers of our country to protect us from oppression and abusive
prosecution, has become a thing of the past. Civil rights and
liberties guaranteed by our Constitution are now considered an
anachronism and an obstacle to total control. One has only to
look at some recent court cases to find out what has happened
to our laws, our Constitution, and the judicial process.
Where is our country presently heading to on matters related
to civil and constitutional rights? Under the present course
the answer is: NOWHERE. The pendulum has swung too far to the
right and recent decisions in federal courts indicate that the
future looks very bleak on civil rights issues. Privacy and other
fundamental rights are all just going the other way; and we can't
put too much confidence in equal protection laws, either.
Courts and
federal prosecutors are showing very little concern about legal
doctrines and the Constitution
We are still laboring
in this country with the misconception and the myth that our
Courts, are indeed antimajoritarian institutions that have as
their primary interest the protection of minority groups and
the powerless. Perhaps this was true at one time. However, it
is not true any longer. Recent Court decisions on many issues
should make it obvious by now that they are, in fact, instruments
of the majoritarian system and under the indirect control of
the self- serving ruling elitists who have robbed the power structure
of our country.
How do we make sense of constitutional law and how do we reconcile
federal court decisions? There is no doubt that in well settled
areas of civil law, and only if the Government itself is not
the plaintiff or the defendant, the courts perform reasonably
well. But in areas of civil rights and criminal law involving
"new statutes", where the Government itself is the
plaintiff, the range of court decisions just does not make sense
if you are looking for logic or the doctrine of fundamental fairness
and justice. Our Constitution and all the rules of the game are
thrown out or always interpreted in favor of the Government.
The courts now totally flip-flop on Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and
Eighth amendment issues and the rights of citizen defendants.
The courts have shown very little concern about legal doctrines
and the Constitution. They provide only a facade of due process
and an "appearance of justice" - for public consumption.
Legal myths perpetuate the deception and assure the acquiescence
and complacency of the American people
Politically
appointed prosecutors and judges are crushing our civil rights
in the nation's federal courts
Manning Marable, a
professor of history and political Science at the University
of Colorado in Boulder, in his essay entitled "Clarence
Thomas and the Crisis of Black Political Culture", (in a
book entitled "Race-ing Justice, En-gendering Power, Essays
on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the Construction of Social
Reality", Edited by Toni Morrison, and published by Pantheon
Books, in New York, in 1992), gave the following interesting
statistics for the 1988-1990 period:
"During Bush'
first two years as president, he appointed seventy federal judges,
nearly all of whom were white, affluent males".
Marable went on to say that less than 12 percent of Bush's federal
judges were women; only 6.5 percent were from racial minority
groups. Finally, in his essay, he stated that virtually all of
Bush's selections were deeply hostile to civil rights, affirmative
action enforcement, civil liberties for those charged with criminal
offenses, environmental protection laws, and the freedom of choice
for women on the issue of abortion.
These older statistics represent only the tip of the iceberg.
The truth is that in recent years, politically appointed prosecutors
and judges are crushing our civil rights in the nation's federal
courts. These people have made rumbles of civil liberty law and
the Constitution. One only has to look at recent judicial decisions
to determine how heavy-handed, and lopsided justice has been.
Traditionally Americans have looked to the Courts to guarantee
and protect the rights of minorities and the oppressed. But the
courts are no longer the arbitrators or dispensers of fairness
and justice. They have become the advocates and collaborators
of government prosecutors who in turn receive directions from
those who have infiltrated the power base of our country and
who have the hidden agendas. The game for justice is no longer
in the federal courts. Most of the laws in our country are passed
by non elected officials of the government bureaucracy, rather
than by our elected officials in Congress.
But where is the root
of the evil? One does not have to look very far to discover this
evil that is threatening our Constitution and our freedoms. In
a selection called "The Private Parts of Justice",
its author, Andrew Ross, a professor of English at Princeton
University, points to the very root of the evil by raising the
following question:
"In a society where a great majority of problems and decisions
are turned over to the law without any semblance of a prior public
debate, how is popular consent obtained for non democratic government
by law, as interpreted by unelected officials in the judiciary,
rather than by democratic government by the people, as interpreted
by elected officials in the legislature?"
Clearly, Ross is questioning
and raising the issue that there is no longer a democratic process
or a public debate in the passage of "new laws" in
this country. For example, numerous of the "new laws"
are passed by unaccountable, irresponsible, hard lobbying, non
elected officials in the Department of Justice, and not by our
elected representatives in Congress.
Untried
"new laws", are pushed through an unsuspecting Congress
by non elected officials with hidden and self serving agenda
and motives.
Many of these "new
laws" are being passed, often without a chance for proper
public or Congressional scrutiny. Frequently, the non elected
officials of different government agencies - with their own hidden
and self serving agendas and motives - lobby and push trough
an unsuspecting Congress disguised laws that clearly violate
our Constitutional guarantees. Law enactment has become a railroading,
non democratic process. Once enacted by Congress, and in the
hands of the wrong law enforcement officials and federal prosecutors,
these "new laws" can become truly instruments of oppression
and repression.
Also, to combine insult with injury, our federal courts have
become progressively more tolerant of constitutional abuses.
Federal prosecutors now enjoy absolute immunity for misconduct
or for violations of defendants' constitutional rights. Unquestionably,
they control the outcome of trials, often by denying discovery,
or by manipulating and even falsifying evidence. Winning at-all-costs
is the name of the new game, and the hell with morality or the
Constitution. Usually, abuses of constitutional rights are now
labeled by our courts as "harmless errors" and are
swept under the judicial carpet. Justice in this country has
become extremely lopsided because of new unconstitutional laws
and lax judicial attitudes. Professional standards and codes
of ethical conduct are shunned by the federal prosecutors and
Department of Justice officials. They claim that adherence to
a code of ethical conduct "will hinder their ability to
fight crime".
The "War
on Drugs", "Crime" and "Terrorism" are
used as the excuse to pass unconstitutional laws that suppress
American Civil Rights and our Constitution.
Our laws have always
been in a state of flux and redefinition. Traditionally, our
elected representatives in Congress have the responsibility to
pass, review, and amend laws that protect our rights as citizens.
Through our votes, we believe that we have given our elected
representatives the responsibility to legislate laws that are
fair and protect our constitutional guarantees. Usually, in passing
new laws, Congressional intent reflects the will and intent of
the people in having laws that, as a minimum, meet constitutional
safeguards . However, in recent years, "new laws" have
been passed which do not fully explain or clearly reflect Congressional
intent. Often, absolutisms such as the "War on Drugs",
the "War on Crime" and "War on Terrorism",
are used as the excuses to pass "new laws" that suppress
Civil Rights and our Constitution.
Because of the intentionally created paranoia that surrounds
these social issues, Congress, in enacting such laws, often overlooks
potential constitutional violations of the rights of Americans.
Also, the American people, misled by the same paranoia as amplified
by the media, become tolerant and complacent of the infringement
and violations of these laws on civil liberties. The social issues
of "drugs" "crime" and "terrorism"
have been artificially hyped to such an extent as to create great
fears and anxiety among Americans, resulting in unprecedented
concessions, while overlooking the larger issues of loss of fundamental
freedoms. History definitely shows that totalitarian governments
often use public fear and anxiety to suppress freedoms. Myths
and disinformation are intentionally generated to obtain total
control of a nation. Is this happening in our country? Are we
becoming a nation of sheep?
The truth is that the majority of Americans do not understand
how some of the recent "new laws" violate our Constitution.
They do not realize the hidden motives of those who lobby for
their enactment. It is true that we need proper laws to combat
rising crime and drug trafficking, and indeed, when properly
applied, some of these new laws serve this purpose. Frequently
though, hidden and disguised in the "packaging" of
such laws are collateral infringements on our Constitution and
a gradual, systematic erosion of our basic freedoms. Intentionally,
the wording of "new laws" is often left vague and ambiguous,
not meeting the common language requirement for public understanding.
By including ambiguous and vague wording in the "new laws",
unscrupulous law enforcement officials and federal prosecutors
can intentionally misinterpret Congressional intent in their
enforcement, to implement their Machiavellian plan of shelf perpetuation
and control. Well intentioned legislative leaders, just as the
rest of us, are constantly being deceived. Confused by the ambiguity
in the language of the new laws, even judges have become extremely
tolerant of gross prosecutorial misconduct and of constitutional
abuses by law enforcement agents. Slowly but surely, our criminal
justice system is being undermined and we, the people - while
watching stupid television shows or shopping endlessly - are
becoming more and more oppressed.
Brainwashed
by the media
Americans are being
methodically, systematically and perversely brainwashed by a
controlled media in accepting a newly created "Status Quo",
a prelude to further and total oppression and control. Often,
Americans are presented with disinformation that contributes
to misunderstanding and paranoia which, in turn, lead to fears
and capitulation of their constitutional rights.
In the book mentioned earlier, its author Professor Andrew Ross
writes that this is accomplished through a barrage of cop shows
and courtroom docudramas and through TV's filmic and fictional
representations of the law. Americans are being brainwashed to
glorify law enforcement officers and unquestionably accept mythical
concepts of righteousness, thus becoming more tolerant of constitutional
abuses. Indeed, without such shows, Americans would be less willing
to grant officers of the law and federal prosecutors the kind
of powers that they exercise in civil and judicial life. Furthermore,
legislative leaders would be more inclined to scrutinize carefully
legislation introduced or lobbied by the non elected government
officials.
Our legal
process is becoming an instrument of Government oppression and
repression
In Kafka's book, "The
Trial", written in Germany in the 1920's or 1930's, the
main character, Joseph K., was arrested, put on trial, and found
guilty of charges of which he was unaware. No one ever told him
why he was on trial and he was never told what he was guilty
of. All anyone spoke of was "the Law," and it was this
"law" which put Joseph K. on trial, and eventually
ended with his assassination.
This book is a statement on how in a seemingly normal society,
which is not or does not appear outwardly oppressive, an individual
can be conspired against, convicted, and ruined - all under the
pretext of an amorphous concept of a "law", even when
this individual is innocent.
In his book "The Private Parts of Justice", mentioned
earlier, Professor Andrew Ross states:
"America, unlike
other, more Kafkaesque countries, is supposed to be a place where
the legal process is not an instrument of state repression, where
it makes sense to its citizens, where everyone is entitled to
a fair shake, and where there is no contradiction between the
fact that the country's laws are constantly in a state of redefinition
and the perception that the legal rights of its citizens were
already fully formed in the mind's eye of its constitutional
framers, whose intentions fully reflected the common sense or
natural reason of the people."
What appears and what
actually happens are two different things. In essence Professor
Ross concludes that the legal process in our country is not different
than that of Kafkaesque countries in that it has become an instrument
of state repression because of our deviation from constitutional
law. Indeed, in recent times, abstract, amorphous and unconstitutional
laws have been passed that have escaped proper Congressional
scrutiny. In the hands of the wrong law enforcement officials
or federal prosecutors, these laws have become truly instruments
of repression, even in a country such as ours where presumably
we have safeguards against abuses of justice.
Our country
is becoming a Police State
If unconstitutional
laws can undermine the legal process to become instruments of
oppression and repression, and if unscrupulous prosecutors are
allowed to operate in our courts and succeed in convicting innocent
people using such laws, then a police state cannot be very far
away. Is this happening in our country? It certainly appears
that way. If we continue to allow unconstitutional laws to be
enacted without even protesting, it is only a question of time
before all our civil rights and liberties are forever lost to
forces of tyranny and repression. IF WE ALLOW THIS KIND OF REPRESSION
TO CONTINUE, WE HAVE LOST AMERICA.
Is there
a light at the end of the tunnel?
Thomas Jefferson
 Greater issues and
philosophies arise from the above discussion: that some of the
new laws in our country - introduced by non elected officials
with hidden agendas - threaten our basic constitutional freedoms
and safeguards and have subverted and undermined our Criminal
Justice System. Therefore, a greater awareness is needed in allowing
the passing of any new laws. Before enactment, all laws need
to be adjudged constitutionally accurate in their intent and
language so as to adhere strictly and hold true to the rules
and principles of the Constitution of the United States of America
and its Bill of Rights and subsequent Amendments. Congress needs
to be more vigilant of judicial abuses and injustices and of
improperly applied laws by federal prosecutors. Prosecutorial
immunity from misconduct should be withdrawn. Finally, only through
civil responsibility, vigilance and determination, we can restore
constitutional laws and justice in America, and thus engender
a higher degree of fidelity to a Criminal Justice System that
adheres to our country's founding principles.
(Copyright
© 2000 George Pararas-Carayannis. All rights preserved.)
"Where
shall we seek justice when the injustice of power is our destruction?"
Euripides
"As
nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In
both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly
unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of
change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims
of the darkness." Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
Other
Miscellaneous Non-technical Writings
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