An Open Letter to the American Association for Justice

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An Open Letter to the American Association for Justice

 

By Timothy Gatto

Created Jul 13 2007 - 9:06am

 

I am writing this open letter to the American Association for Justice

because many, many Americans feel that the term "justice" and America are no

longer synonymous. Justice in America is unfortunately afforded to only

those that can afford it. This has been true as far as criminal justice is

concerned for a long time now. Public Defenders and small time criminal

lawyers that are overworked and under-paid try their level best, but more

talented or better connected jurists work for the larger law firms that can

afford to pay the big salaries and hand out those all-important perks,

leaving those attorneys that are more concerned with fair and even-handed

justice to toil with no recognition with very little monetary gain. We

should recognize these people as heroes. There is no better calling than to

stand up for the common man. Some feel that justice should come first and we

applaud them. Some others however, feel that money should be the great

motivator of men. It seems as if money has replaced everything our

forefathers believed in, justice, fair play and democracy.

 

That last word, democracy is a word that has been bandied about quite a bit

in the last six years. Regrettably, the more the government of this nation

uses the word democracy, the less the American people see it. This President

has an approval rating of 27%. Congress has a lower approval rating than the

President. There must be a reason, what is that reason?

 

We all know what the reason is, but the people that can do something about

it turn away pretending that everything is ok. The truth is that we as

Americans are not ok. We are involved in a war in Iraq that was predicated

on lies and distortions of the facts. We have an Executive Branch of

government that has just about taken dictatorial power since the attacks of

9/11, and our lawmakers in Washington refuse to see the reality of the

situation, not because they can't see, but because the corporate interests

that are involved in illegal acts, are the same corporate interests that pay

for these law makers political campaigns. Concepts that Americans have taken

for granted such as the writ of habeas corpus, and the presumption of

innocence until proved guilty no longer pertain to anyone that the

government deems a "terrorist".

 

Just who should be labeled a "terrorist"? A terrorist can be whatever the

Bush Administration wants to be a terrorist. This administration has

thousands of people under detention that have never been charged in a court

of law. No due process, nothing but imprisonment for being in the wrong

place at the wrong time. Sure many of these prisoners are terrorists, but

how many? We will never know until they get a fair trial, so in the eyes of

the law, we are holding thousands on technically innocent people at the will

of the executive branch. How can attorneys such as yourselves, live with the

knowledge that the law has been circumvented, and lives ruined, to advance

the goals of a few men in Washington? Is this the way you imagined it would

be on the day that you passed your examination for admittance to the bar?

 

Of course it isn't, but time and time again, even the most principled of us,

myself included, allow this administration to proceed with acts of

criminality that if done by organized crime, would warrant an investigation

under the RICO Statutes. How long are we willing to be blinded to the fact

that true justice in America is a thing of the past? How will you live with

the knowledge that it was on our watch that the American Dream died?

 

There is a man among you that stood up to Big Oil and won. Someone that

stood up for Americans that were hurt because of corporate greed that

believed in the bottom line of profit, more than they believed in safe

procedures to keep their workers out of harm's way. You will honor this man

at your convention and that is a good thing, even in the world of big

business and international conglomerates there are still opportunities to

stand up for the common man, to stand up for what is right, and good. We

have that opportunity again with this administration that has usurped the

rule of law in this country and replaced it with naked power and gunboat

diplomacy and with the rights that our forefathers fought and died for

abrogated by new laws that give all the power to the State and leave very

little for the common citizen.

 

The insurrection Act that gives the Federal Government power over the

Governors of the States as to the law enforcement powers of the State

National Guard, The Military Commissions Act of 2006 that gives the military

the right to torture prisoners short of "organ failure" and takes from them,

the presumption of innocence and the right to be told of the charges against

them, The Patriot Act that allows suspected "terrorists" to submit to home

searches without a warrant and without having to inform the person that they

had their premises searched by the Federal Government, The spying by the NSA

in violation of the FISA Court set up for that very purpose. These are but a

few of the laws that were instituted or changed under this Administration.

 

You have your oaths that you took when you became officers of the Court.

These oaths are sacred as are all oaths administered when it is necessary to

ask someone to keep a promise. I took one when I joined the Army to protect

and defend the United States. There are many serving now and dying to

protect their oaths. I am asking you to live up to the oaths you made when

you all became officers of the court. I am asking you all to defend and

protect the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic, no matter whom

those enemies are. It's what you promised to do. It is time to do it.

 

_______

Timothy V. Gatto

 

 

 

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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their

spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their

government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are

suffering deeply in spirit,

and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public

debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have

patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning

back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at

stake."

-Thomas Jefferson