Resetting The Record

In the 1/29/26 edition of The Norwood Record, a letter was printed which necessitated the extremely rare step of editorial comment, one I appreciated the editors making. The author spent several hundred words repeating Newsmax-style talking points and claiming that no one's rights have been violated if they were "acting lawfully," which is a tried-and-true way to demonize non-violent political dissent. And we can be very clear: at the times when Renee Good and Alex Pretti were repeatedly shot by uniformed agents of the federal government, they were acting non-violently. The consensus on that is broad and only the farthest fringe elements deny it.

But the author was doubly wrong: multiple Constitutional amendments face violation on a regular basis by the deployment of ICE and other federal forces. The killings of Good and Pretti are, among other things, First Amendment violations as their deaths resulted from their protected rights to protest and observe. So is the intimidation and violence committed against journalists and countless other non-violent protesters and observers. The administration's stance on Pretti carrying (but not, as they claimed, brandishing) a firearm runs afoul of the Second Amendment.

The administration's pressure on commercial lodging facilities to house their forces may constitute a Third Amendment violation. ICE commits Fourth Amendment-violating unreasonable searches and seizures on a daily basis. Their repeated denials of due process are Fifth Amendment violations. Denial of access to counsel to those in custody is a Sixth Amendment violation. Summary detention of individuals without bail and the conditions in which detainees are held likely constitute Eighth Amendment violations. The cataloging and subsequent harassment by law enforcement of individuals exercising their right to protest may be a Ninth Amendment violation. The federal government arrogating to itself police powers normally held by the sovereign states is a Tenth Amendment violation. The federal government may be violating 90 percent of the Bill of Rights on any given day.

The author invokes Iran to his detriment: the point of these protests is to nip authoritarianism in the bud so that we do not experience here the bloodbaths we see from authoritarian regimes. If that's not worth raising your voice for, I don't know what is.

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Patrick Griffin
Norwood