A WEEKLY COMMENTARY
Year Twenty-Seven ... Number Thirty-Eight ... September 19, 1980
AMERICA - THE HOME OF THE FEARFUL?
The other day Candidate Jimmy Carter was busy stirring up anger and hostility among his listeners because he said that Candidate Ronald Reagan had been busy "sitting up hatred and racism" in Mississippi. The occasion: a campaign speech in Atlanta. The location: Ebenezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King, Jr. used to preach, and where "Daddy" King still preaches. The congregation: Black leaders, with Andy Young sitting cross-legged in the front pew. The speaker: "Georgia boy" Jimmy (as he was introduced by the mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson). In the middle of this speech (as taped for TV), the Georgia boy departed from his prepared script to say that his main Republican opponent was "sitting up hatred and racism" and "creating a cloud on the political horizon." Packing his words with emotion, he went on to say: "You've seen in this campaign the stirrings of hate and the rebirth of code words like 'states rights' in a speech Mississippi..."
Reagan really had said, in a speech at the Neshoba County fair in Mississippi that he was "a consistent believer in states rights." But just how use of that term -- which was familiar to Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and even to Abraham Lincoln -- could stir up hatred and racism, wasn't clear to us. But it was "explained" by reporter Tom Fielder, who covered Carter's campaign in Georgia for the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain. Fielder wrote: "States rights is a phrase that has long been a code word for some in the Deep South for segregation." States rights is something of a code word, but it refers to Federal interference in matters that are reserved by the Constitution to the States. It means, in effect and in loose translation, "You Feds, keep your hands off the things that can best be handled by State and County Governments." We remember when we were a kid in Kansas, about the only federal official in the whole State would be the United States Marshall, and he stuck exclusively and carefully to Uncle Sam's business and let the Jayhawks take care of themselves. If a man was accused of a crime, he was tried by a jury of his peers in a court where a County judge presided. If convincted, punishment was quick. Two or three years of appeals to higher courts with eventual freedom on some technicality was unheard of. And the idea of prisoners suing prison officials for the alleged violation of their "rights" was equally unheard of. It was understood that a convicted felon was automatically deprived of his civil rights and stayed that way until his rights were restored by a qualified official. So long as the Counties handled their own problems of crime and punishment, with occasional help from the State, there was comparative peace and order and a reasonable amount of justice prevailed. But when federal appointees -- judges and bureaucrats -- moved in and started telling local officials how they must treat criminals as though they were VIPs, how their "rights" must be read to them, how they must be treated while in custody lest the officials be sued for mistreatment of their "guests", etc., etc. These are the things that stir up hatred and fear.
Recently Allan C. Brownfield wrote a column on this subject. He noted that: "Crime in the U.S. is at an all-time high. Yet, all too often, criminals are back on the street in record time -- to kill, rape and rob again. More and more our court system appears not to be one to provide justice but to protect thsoe who have infringed, often violently, on the rights of others. This sad state of affairs has come about, in part, as the result of a philosophy which holds that criminals are not, in fact, responsible for their actions. This deterministic philosophy places all blame upon society which means, in the end, that none of us is responsible for what he does -- whether it is good or bad. This is perhaps the final dehumanization of man."
"Once those few criminals who do find themselves sentenced to prison arrive in their place of incarceration," says Brownfield, "they discovery very quickly that they are not there for either punishment or for rehabilitation. They are simply being warehoused for a short period of time and they learn it is possible, even from within prison walls, to take advantage of our soft and gullible system .. The federal judges -- a non-elected group -- have more and more replaced state legislators in setting forth day-to-day rules for running State prison systems. Their interpretation of what constitutes 'cruel and unusual punishment' has become so broad that many critics doubt that they support the concept of any kind of 'punishment' for criminals. Prisoners are encouraged to become amateur lawyers and to harrass prison officials -- knowing that the taxpayer will pay the bill." Some examples:
These suits are paid for by taxpayers. While most of them are dismissed, or settled before going to trial, they still cost millions. But far more important, of course, is the fact that criminals just don't stay in jail. As Brownfeld said in his report, felons are neither punished nor rehabilitated; they are merely warehoused for a while, then released to kill, rob and rape again. The land is filled with "repeaters" and with shyster lawyers who got them out of prison. All too common are the stories of "loopholes" in the law that prevent lawmen from maintaining order and protecting citizens. As a result, the land is filled with fear. And many -- too many -- officials are increasing this fear with their attempts to disarm the country.
David Finn lives in the affluent Riverdale section of the Bronx. About a year ago his 60-year-old brother was murdered by a gunman. Since guns are outlawed in New York, only outlaws have guns. Shocked by his brother's death, Finn promoted a study, a Report on Fear of Crime. The study, based on telephone interviews with adults nationwide, concluded that the "fear of crime is slowly paralyzing American society." We have no way of knowing just how accurate a report of this kind may be, but here are some of the results, as published in the New York Daily News:
The newspaper article concludes with this paragraph: "The study made no recommendations for fighting crime. The researchers said only that they hope that a clearer awareness of the extent of the fear of crime and its effects on the nation could aid in finding solutions."
Well, the people in Miami are finding solutions; as are the citizens of several other cities. Because of the influx of "124, 445 Cuba refugees and 6,727 Haitian refugees." during the last five months, and the black unrest in Miami and its suburbs, Dade County has become "the crime capitol of the United States." But fear has not only paralyzed everyone. Instead, people are taking the law into their own hands; and the law enforcement officials are encouraging the action. Here are excerpts from an article which appeared in the Sept. 6, 1980 issue of the Miami Herald:
"Armed and angry Miamians, taking the law into their own hands, killed more robbers, burglars and rapists than have been slain by police this year ... Embattled civilians confronted and killed more htan twice as many criminals as did police during the first eight months of 1980 ... The chief of Dade County's police union approves of residents arming themselves. 'There are just not enough of us (policemen) to go around ... People who have a perfect right to be armed in their homes or their businesses should absolutely arm themselves. Police are spread so thin .. People will say, "But you're going to have a bunch of lunatics running around with guns" -- but we have that now.' said the Police Association President Hugh Peebles.
"The whole judicial system is failing," says Miami Homicide Sgt. Mike Gonzalez. "People are going back to Wild West days, back to the days where there was one marshal in the whole territory and one judge who rode the circuit. People couldn't depend on the police or the courts, so they took the law into their own hands. They took care of themselves. That diminished through the years. Now it's picking up again."
How it's picking up is illustrated by an article released by the Chicago Tribune Service, which reports on the resurrection of the old Posse Comitatus system of justice in North Central Wisconsin. Posse Comitatus is legal Latin for "power of the county." In the Wild West posses were often formed by the Sheriff or Marshal to ride after outlaws. But the system had almost died out. Following are excerpts from articles, together with its eight column headline:
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MODERN POSSE: DEFIANCE, ANGER, FEAR
Tigerton Dells, Wis. -- Land is sacred around here. Residents, most of them farmers, want no intrusions from government agencies that may want to tap their streams, use them for public waterways, or deposit nuclear wastes in the valleys of their verdant rolling hill ... In 1974 Ray Omerick and 6 friends decided that they had had enough of bureaucracy. In the name of God, patriotism, and law and order, they chartered the first Wisconsin chapter of posse comitatus. Usually a posse is called together by a sheriff in an emergency to help keep the peace. But this posse waits for no summons. Wisconsin posse members have stopped citizens for speeding; 'indicted' public officials and subpoenaed them before the posse's own 'citizen's grand jury'; guarded trailer homes that authorities said violated local zoning ordinances; filed a spate of nuisance lawsuits, such as liens against the property of "corrupt" officials; .. inspected civil defense shelters and accused the state attorney general of treason after they, found the shelters empty.
James Wickstrom (a posse member) understands the significance of a man's property and what it symbolizes. "This land is the birthplace of our freedom. If someone comes and threatens a man's sweat and toil .. he's gonna go inside, and get a shotgun, and blow their heads off." To him the family farm is the backbone of the nation. Saying it is in grave danger, he speaks of the corrupt forces "that have brought a once great nation to the brink of destruction." The posse believes that law enforcement officials generally are on the take and incompetent. In the posse's handbook, hanging is the punishment prescribed for those who would subvert the law. So far there have been no hangings, but reportedly there has been a tarring and feathering. Women cannot belong to the posse -- it is only for men over 15. "The Bible states man is over woman," it was explained, "though we do train them in combat -- we think it's their right to be able to defend themselves when no one's around." ...
Common law is the posse base. Posse rhetoric is laced with quotes from the Declaration of Independence, Magna Carta, Black's Law Dictionary, and the Bible. ... The posse charges that the Federal Reserve System is fraudulent and illegal "because it is not backed by gold and silver." ... Judges and lawyers are held in contempt. "The biggest crime is going on in the courts," Wickstrom said. "Repeated felons are slapped on the hands, and put back on the streets to commit more crimes, but if you and I go five miles over 55, they throw the book at us." (End of quotations from Chicago Tribune article.)
The posse organization claims to be a nationwide movement, but membership figures are vague because charters are not registered. Spokesman claim membership of 2.5 million ("growing daily"), with chapters in every State. If you are interested, our advice is to see your sheriff. If he isn't interested, then see what you can do about it next November 4th.
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