Hi John,

 

This is our first LDAD newsletter, and we are excited to introduce a feature that will focus on a Democracy Hero and a Democracy Threat. Through this effort, we seek to recognize and acknowledge behaviors that should serve as role models to other public officials, and call out behaviors that endanger our democracy. We welcome your suggestions for future Democracy Heroes and Threats.

 

Here at LDAD, we think incessantly about the ongoing threats to our democracy. We ask ourselves why the infrastructure of the legal profession – bar associations, law school deans, law firms, and corporate counsel – remain largely silent, as too many states attack the rule of law by implementing unconstitutional statutes and suppressing the right to vote.

 

We also worry about why the media has continued to fall prey to those who understand that mere repetition of a lie provides the light needed for that lie to grow. Frequently, a newsperson will report a known lie, and even ask the other side to respond, thereby allowing the lie to become an oversized narrative that grips large segments of the country.

 

Silence has become the default because of the weaponization of a word - the fear of being called “partisan.”

 

Legal organizations are afraid that speaking out will appear partisan, resulting in member resignations, client anger, or law school trustee disapproval. Similarly, the media is too often unsettled by the threat that they, too, will be accused of being one-sided. 

 

Sadly, these false accusations of partisanship have worked to mute the two professions best equipped to save our democracy: journalism and the legal profession. Of course, there are laudable examples in both of comprehensive reporting, incisive questioning, and important writing. But these are not the norm. 

 

Our democracy is facing threats unlike anything we have seen since the Civil War.

 

The so-called Big Lie is fast becoming a Big Truth among more than 30% of Americans. States are using the false narrative of voter fraud to push through unconstitutional and dangerous laws on a variety of topics, including laws that will suppress the right to vote and allow for partisan lawmakers to determine that an election is “disputed,” and then step in to “resolve” the dispute.

 

The time to act is now. The time for lawyers to step up and adhere to the oath they took to protect our Constitution is now. And the time for journalists to doggedly pursue facts and resist the bait of those trying to deflect them is now.

We hope you will join us. 

 

If you have not already signed, please join our call-to-action against the unconstitutional Texas abortion statute. 

 

We also hope you will donate to LDAD to support us in our work. We all are on this journey together as we seek to preserve our democracy for future generations. This is not a drill.

 

Lauren Stiller Rikleen

Interim Executive Director

 

Our democracy requires a spirit of decency, civility and unity with a common purpose for our common good, that we resolve our differences by seeking and speaking truth, and that we hold free and fair elections and respect their outcomes. LDAD’s Democracy Heroes are selected for their adherence to these ideals and Democracy Villains are selected for their departure. 

 

This month, LDAD’s Democracy Hero is Phil Scott, the Republican Governor of Vermont. At a time when states across the country are restricting ballot access, Governor Scott signed legislation to expand voting rights. Among other protections, the bill provides that all registered voters will receive mail-in ballots. 

Moreover, as many elected officials across the country undercut science-based efforts to combat the scourge of Covid, the state of Vermont has led the nation in Covid vaccinations and other public health measures. In stark comparison to states that have resisted these public health measures, Vermont has had low death rates, low infection rates, and a thriving economy. 

This month’s Democracy Threat is House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, California, who embodies the disunity of our nation’s politics. The January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, undertaken to prevent the counting of the Electoral College votes, was executed by assailants who came “prepared for war.” Yet Minority Leader McCarthy has continually sought to thwart Congressional investigations of these events, undermining the formation of a bi-partisan commission, opposing the work of the House Select Committee, and threatening reprisals against American telecommunications companies for complying with House Committee requests and subpoenas for communication records relating to those who may have played critical roles. 

Speaking at the 9/11 memorial honoring the passengers of Flight 93, former President George W. Bush warned of the danger posed by domestic extremism as exemplified in the events of January 6, and stressed the need to unify as we did after the 9/11 attacks: “There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit. And it is our continuing duty to confront them.” 

 

 

Lawyers Defending American Democracy
303 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210
United States

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