David Harsanyi of the Federalist highlights those who would deny Americans one of their fundamental rights.
It was heartening to see so many conservatives criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ new proposal to expand the use of civil asset forfeiture, a policy that allows government to seize the private property of citizens without any judicial oversight or genuine due process. The notion that government doesn’t need to prove guilt before dispensing with punishment is the bailiwick of authoritarians.
And, quite often, Democrats.
With all the well-earned criticism of Sessions, let’s not forget that less than a year ago John Lewis and many other Democrats conducted a congressional sit-in to fight for legislation that would have stripped Americans who were placed on secret government watch lists — hundreds of thousands of them; many who had never been convicted, much less accused, of any crime — of their constitutional right to bear arms. Even the American Civil Liberties Union argued that policies based on flawed terror lists would undermine civil liberties. …
… I know it’s considered intellectually vulgar to bring up past liberal transgressions in the Age of Trump, but I always recall this episode when I see Democrats feigning concern for the rule of law or the sanctity of process. Now, after the 2016 presidential election, you’d think that they would have learned that preserving the process benefits them, as well. They did not.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is now the target of liberal ire for proposing to fix the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights adjudication of campus sexual assault.
