By Deacon Mike Manno
(The
Wanderer) – One of the festering problems bubbling up across the
nation concerns the treatment of children who might have gender dysphoria. Much
of the concern deals with how the teachers’ unions and some social service
agencies handle the problem which, for far too many kids trapped in the
situation, is more of a phase they go through rather than any real medical or
psychological problems.
Thus as the liberal left has enshrined itself as the
arbiter of good and evil, to which all must bow down, normal childhood
development is overlooked in favor of an ongoing quest for the oxymoronic
notion involved in something called “social justice.”
We have watched this played out for far too long. But the
basic template goes something like this: Schools, social workers, and
librarians, as the aforesaid arbiters of good and evil, have determined that
gender is a fluid state which can be changed at will when needed to do so. The
result is that children, often those associated with loneliness, shyness, an
inferiority complex, or the like — which may be caused by many factors from
family dynamics to a physical handicap — are seized upon by one of our
enlightened betters to indicate that this little boy might be better off as a
girl.
Thus the grooming begins. Each element of the school’s
sexual education program is emphasized to open a window of acceptance to the shy
and lonely little Tom Boy that perhaps her problem might be she was born into
the wrong body. And this is usually done without the knowledge of the parents,
and often ends up with what something euphemistically referred to as “gender
affirming” care and ultimately puberty blocking drugs and sometimes much worse.
Some folks are trying to do something about this and
several state legislatures have considered adopting bills banning such
activities for minors. One such state that did so was Alabama.
The Alabama legislature worked on the bill, gathering
information, through several legislative sessions and finally passed the
Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Law (VCAP) in 2022. The law bans
puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery to alter the biological sex of a
minor.
Two entities that supported the VCAP bill were Eagle Forum
of Alabama and Southeast Law Institute. They did those things that such
organizations do when supporting legislation they favor. They promoted the bill
by direct communication with their own members; they issued press releases
supporting the measure; they provided the legislature with pertinent
information about the issues involved, including medical studies on the
question, and raised funds in support of VCAP.
All that was done was typical grass-roots support for a law
that the organizations support — as all-American as registering to vote.
Naturally the VCAP was a controversial piece of legislation. The left-wing
Trans community opposed it, as well as numerous liberal groups and party. So,
as we have seen before, someone filed suit against the state seeking to prevent
the new law from taking effect, what is referred to as a pre-enforcement
action.
Getting wind of the lawsuit — or perhaps because they knew
and encouraged it — the Biden Administration intervened in the suit on behalf
of the plaintiffs. Almost immediately the DOJ issued subpoenas to the Eagle
Forum and the Southeast Law Institute for a wide range of materials that they
used in their support for the passage of VCAP. The range of documents that the
Biden Administration demanded was so far reaching that Heritage Foundation
expert Zack Smith of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, said:
“It is clear that subpoenas like this one are intended to
harass those who are on the conservative side of policy debates in order to
chill their speech, deter their active participation in the democratic
legislative process, and discourage citizens from contributing to or otherwise
affiliating with organizations like the Eagle Forum.
“Such abusive discovery threatens the First Amendment
rights of membership organizations to engage in free speech, associate with
others who share their beliefs, and speak to their elected representatives and
other government officials about public policy issues that concern them.”
This is how the judge described the subpoena in his order
quashing it.
“The subpoenas, which generally seek to probe whether the
nonparties [Eagle Forum and Southeast Law] helped research and draft the Act,
commanded the nonparties to produce eleven categories of evidence: (1) draft
and proposed legislation; (2) materials the nonparties considered when
preparing such legislation; (3) documents concerning the nonparties’ policy
goals; (4) documents provided to the Alabama Legislature; (5) communications
with the Alabama Legislature; (6) communications with nongovernmental
organizations; (7) records and minutes of meetings; (8) polling and public
opinion data; (9) documents related to presentations, videos, interviews, and
speeches given by the nonparties’ representatives; (10) mass letters,
newsletters, and emails; and (11) social media postings.”
The misuse of the government’s subpoena power was so
blatant that during a preliminary hearing to schedule a hearing on the motion
to quash, U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke seemed to scold the Justice
Department, prefiguring his ultimate ruling on the motion:
“Administrations change every four years, or at least every
eight. Is the new standard going to be that these kind of subpoenas go out in
legislation to any advocacy organization, and they want emails to their
members, they want social media posts, they want things that the group just
considered in their advocacy?…Is that where you think the Department of Justice
thinks we need to go in this country? Because I promise you this, at some point
this will be aimed at the Southern Poverty Law [Center] and the ACLU, and their
efforts, as well. Is this where we need to go?”
A close call. In the end, however, it is troubling that the
Justice Department would attempt such a stunt, for as Eagle Forum’s attorney
Margaret Green wrote to her board before the decision, “If this subpoena is
enforced it will have an unprecedented chilling effect on historically
protected Constitutional rights and legislative advocacy in Alabama and
possibly around America.”
Unfortunately, an un-principled administration, seeking to
win at all costs, was willing to trample the rights of private citizens banding
together to better their state. This is what we have come to expect from those
who are charged with defending the Constitution. Our problem is that unless
Congress is willing to step forward we will be subjected to more close calls as
this was, until ultimately the unbridled forces of a renegade regime will win
and neuter our constitutional system.
Consider this with other recent actions against — not
criminal cartels or foreign enemies, but peaceful citizens going about their
lives seeking only to influence their political representatives. Take the wrong
side and this could be you.
(You
can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every Thursday on Faith
On Trial at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)
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