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Law and Disorder is a weekly independent civil liberties radio program airing on more than 150 stations and on Apple podcast. Law and Disorder provides timely legal perspectives on issues concerning civil liberties, privacy, right to dissent and practices of torture exercised by the US government and private corporations.
Law and Disorder March 17, 2025
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How Weak Opposition Strengthened Capitalist Order
We, as ordinary people, are experiencing a profound change in the nature of who holds power in America today. Our constitutional democracy, however limited by race and class, is being replaced by an oligarchy, that is to say, the rule by the super rich few over the many. The separation of powers between the Congress, the Executive, and the Supreme Court has all but been eliminated. We are getting what the oligarchs wish for, “a unitary executive” where Trump is attempting to rule by executive decrees.
He and Musk want to cripple, shrink, and eliminate various government agencies that we have won to protect us. They include the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Health, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Social Security Administration. They are perpetuating a hoax that all they want to do is eliminate fraud and waste and corruption.
Trump has now been in power for seven weeks. It took Hitler one month, three weeks, and two days to consolidate his dictatorship. He had legally been appointed as Chancellor. After a mentally unhinged person set fire to the German parliament, Hitler got a law passed revoking the German people’s civil liberties so they could not speak out or organize. Trade unions were banned. Then shortly thereafter he got the infamous “Enabling Act” passed which gave him the power to legislate by decree. His power was thus consolidated
Opposition by the Democratic Party to the transformation here in our country has been feeble. They welcomed Trump into the White House and pledged cooperation. Despite Trump‘s falling popularity – more people oppose him than support him – the Democrats have not mobilized people in the streets nor have they come up with a broad program for better wages, jobs, housing, healthcare for all, housing for the unhoused, the end of deportations, an opposition to the ongoing Palestinian genocide
Guest – Margaret Kimberley, a New York-based writer and activist. She has been an editor and senior columnist for Black Agenda Report since it’s inception in 2006. She is a contributor to the anthology In Defense of Julian Assange.
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Advances For Workers Through Independent Political Action
It’s one thing to wring our hands in despair over the re-election of Donald Trump and decry his out of the gate authoritarian, neo-fascist assault on U.S. democracy and governance. It’s quite another to offer, and begin to employ, a comprehensive strategy for not only combating the new Trump Administration, but to also advance a political ideology that challenges conventional wisdom over what is needed to make our country a truly democratic country, and a country that meets the needs of all its people, not simply its billionaire class.
Yet the billionaire class just keeps getting richer and more powerful. Last year the world’s five richest billionaires increased their wealth by $542 billion. Elan Musk’s wealth alone is fast approaching half a trillion dollars. And globally we are seeing the highest levels of inequality in human history.
So today we’ve invited to the show a guest with a radical vision of what is needed to not only defend against Trump’s dictatorial moves and legislative plans, but in a vastly more profound way bring about the end of the unjust and exploitative capitalist system of the rich in America, and replace it with an equitable and democratic system of governance.
Guest – Kshama Sawant, a socialist economist who was elected to, and served 10 years on the Seattle, Washington City Council. Her election and her advancement of a strong progressive agenda on the Council was often national news. WorkersStrikeBack.org
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Law and Disorder March 10, 2025
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Federal Court Challenges to Trump Administration Arguments
The number of active lawsuits in federal courts challenging Trump administration arguments has now topped 100. In 21 of those cases, judges have already issued temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions, effectively stopping, at least for now, parts of Trump’s agenda.
For example, as reported in the New York Times this past Sunday, trial court judges have blocked for now Trump’s mass firings of civil servants, Musk’s access to sensitive federal agency data, the relocation of transgendered women inmates to men’s prisons, the pursuit of immigrants inside houses of worship, and the freezing of up to $3 trillion of federal funding to the states. And in a very important case, a federal judge entered a final judgment reinstating the head of the federal watchdog agency. And just yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump Administration halting the sending out of those billions of foreign aid dollars.
But it must be pointed out that in a number of preliminary victories against Trump’s actions, the government, though losing the first round in the case, have nevertheless stalled in obeying the court’s orders. And Trump, himself, posted the absolutist notion that, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”
Five of the judges who have ruled against Trump were appointed by Republican presidents, one by Trump himself. As a result of Trump’s losing record in court cases so far, there is now talk on the right of seeking to impeach judges who rule against the Trump Administration. And the number of death threats judges are experiencing from the public have gone up alarmingly, as well.
Guest – Stephen Rohde is a civil rights activist, author, and constitutional scholar. He practiced civil rights law for almost 50 years. He currently serves as chair of the Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (aka ICUJP), which was formed in the wake of 9/11 for the purpose of organizing faith-based communities to call for an end to war and violence. He is also a past President of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, and past Chair of Death Penalty Focus, and Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice. Despite that long list of affiliations, today he’s not speaking on behalf of any of those organizations.
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Free Speech Protections Threatened Under Trump Administration
On March 4, 2025, President Donald Trump threatened to cut federal funding to colleges that permit what he calls “illegal protests.” This statement on social media has sparked a wave of reactions from civil rights groups as a direct attack on fundamental freedoms such as speech and assembly.
In his post, Trump echoed ideas from previous executive orders, including his 2019 order and one issued in January, which specifically targeted pro-Palestinian student protests on college campuses, calling them antisemitic. But Trump’s latest comments go further, asserting that any protest deemed illegal would lead to harsh consequences, including the imprisonment of agitators and expulsion or arrest of American students. The details, however, remain unclear, particularly around how the government would define “illegal protests” or the enforcement of such measures.
Trump’s latest threat has reignited concerns about the balance between freedom of speech and government intervention on college campuses. It also raises important questions about the rights of students, faculty, and protesters in the context of broader political and social movements.
Guest – Attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard from the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and the Center for Protest Law and Litigation in Washington, DC. Mara is one of the nation’s leading litigators defending protesters and winning numerous reforms in police practices at mass assemblies and demonstrations.
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Law and Disorder March 3, 2025
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Emphasis On Christian Nationalism
Several recent developments in the United States have highlighted an increased emphasis on Christian Nationalism within government policies, raising concerns about the separation of church and state and its impact on daily life.
This heretical form of Christianity is being forced upon us. It is super masculine, misogynist, nationalist, homophobic, white, supremacist, and racist. It is Christian in name only. The religion of egalitarian Jesus, who preached the values of the sermon on the mount, is not their religion. The Christian nationalists want to use the power of the state to impose on us their brand of Christianity. It is not the solidarity of humankind.
In February 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the White House Faith Office. This office aims to strengthen partnerships between the federal government and faith-based organizations, enabling them to compete for federal funding and collaborate on initiatives addressing social issues. The order underscores the administration’s recognition of the significant role these organizations play in community development.
Also in February 2025, Trump announced the formation of a task force dedicated to eliminating what he termed “anti-Christian bias” within the federal government. This initiative involves a comprehensive review of federal agencies to identify and address policies or practices perceived as discriminatory against Christians. The task force’s mandate includes ensuring that faith-based organizations receive equal treatment in government programs and services.
The appointment of Russell Vought as the head of the Office of Management and Budget has raised concerns among critics. Vought, known for his Christian nationalist views, has been instrumental in shaping policies that integrate Christian principles into governance. His influence is evident in initiatives that seek to align federal policies with specific religious values, potentially affecting the secular nature of government operations.
Guest – Andrew Seidel, author and attorney who’s defended the First Amendment for more than a decade, both in and out of court. Andrew dedicated his career to challenging religious privilege and battling Christian Nationalism.
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A Golden Age of Oligarchs
Last month, Elon Musk said something about the Trump election with which we agree. He said “this was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization.“ How true. Now our democracy, however, restricted by class and race, is in the process of being replaced by a super wealthy oligarchy. There are more than 800 billionaires in the United States. They are now in the saddle.
The Citizens United Supreme Court case of 2010 eased the process. Trump was elected with money, truly big money from 10 people. Elon Musk alone contributed $277 million. Biden himself in his farewell address warned of the takeover by an oligarchy. Echoing President Eisenhower‘s famous warning of a military industrial complex, Biden talked about the “tech industrial complex.“
This second Trump term will not be like the first. It won’t be incoherent and chaotic. This has been guaranteed by the Heritage Foundation which wrote a 920 page playbook for dismantling democracy.
The process has begun with Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and calling for more drilling. “Drill baby drill” is his mantra. This is a race towards human extinction. On January 21st he pulled out of the World Health Organization. The day he was sworn in he pardoned some 1500 people who participated, and even lead the January 6th insurrection. This is a greenlight for fascist mobs who now must feel they can get away with anything.
The Democratic Party has greased the skids for this transition. It cannot be relied on for the defense of the American people. Biden and Harris after accurately calling Trump a fascist to the last few weeks of the election, then did an about face welcoming him in to the White House saying they would cooperate with him and praising the peaceful transition, a transition that Trump if he lost promised not to abide by.
Guest – Chris Hedges, the journalist and author spent two decades as a foreign correspondent serving as the Middle East Bureau Chief and Balkan Bureau Chief for The New York Times where he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He is the author of 14 books including War is a Force That Gives us Meaning, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, which he co-wrote with the cartoonist Joe Sacco, and The Death of the Liberal Class. Chris’ forthcoming book is titled A Genocide Foretold.
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