ARE OUR INSTITUTIONS FAILING US?

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #380

When I was hired as federal prosecutor in the Los Angeles Office of the United States Attorney it was hammered home to me several times that I was there “to do the right thing for the right reason – every time!” Among other things, that meant that politics would never enter into any of our prosecutorial decisions. In fact that is still what I say when I have the opportunity to speak with prosecutors or police officers. And, by the way, if they make mistakes while trying to do the right thing, we will have their backs! But many people increasingly believe this is no longer being practiced today in the offices of the FBI and Department of Justice. Critically, if people even question that it is not, that can become a major threat to who we are as a country. In a similar vein, judges have two absolute mandates. The first is to do justice as best we can under the facts of the case, the law and the ethics of our profession. Critically important. But the second mandate is equally important, and that is for anyone who cares to believe that justice is being done. Because if people do not believe that justice is being done because our sacred governmental institutions are being influenced by politics or other inappropriate reasons, that can be as harmful as if it were true. Why? Because in politics reality is not really relevant; it is only the voters’ perception of reality that counts. And if people believe we are losing our sacred institutions of our republic – especially including justice and our voting booths – our country will fall apart.

That is why transparency is so important in our government! As I argued right after January 6, 2021 attack on our capitol, we should have immediately empowered a neutral commission to investigate how that attack came about – and disclose it regardless of where the evidence has led. And the members of the commission should have been transparently non-political, like retired judges. The same thing should have happened regarding all claims of fraud in the elections from whatever source. And the same thing should happen now regarding the search warrant executed at former President Donald Trump’s estate at Mar-a -Lago. We should not only have the full truth reported to us all, we also should have every reason to believe that the full truth is accurately being reported to us. Otherwise, I deeply fear for our country!

Quote for the week: “This issue troubles me so much that I can’t think of anything funny.” Jim Gray

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.) Superior Court of Orange County, California 2012 Libertarian Candidate for Vice President

Please listen to our radio show entitled All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray as we discuss timely ssues and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches. The series has concluded, but you can still hear any edition On Demand at https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/3883. And, by the way, these 2 Paragraphs columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty. In addition, my new book with the same title as my radio show is now available at Amazon.com., as is my wife Grace’s and my new novel centered about School Choice entitled 2030 KIDS: We are the Rising Heroes of the Planet. Please read and discuss them with your friends, and send in a review.