I saw the movie ‘The Elephant Man’ a long time ago, but it’s stuck with me, in a deep way, as a number of favorite movies have. To those of you I know personally, you will know I am a movie buff. Over the years a handful of ‘disturbing’ movies, those that make you think about subjects and ideas that maybe you really don’t want to think about, tend to stick in your mind. For me, The Elephant Man is one of those.
When I saw it, I was pretty young. It was before Jace, who is now 25, so I would have been in my twenties. Raised in white suburbia, even with a narcissistic mother, I was coddled by most standards. So to learn that some people were born ‘freaks’, sold to carney shows, treated quite literally like animals… I was shocked.
But the real ‘Elephant’ in the room, so to speak, is that we, as humans, always seem to want, even enjoy, putting others down. There has to be a group we vilify, punish, dehumanize.
Now it seems I have trouble NOT seeing the patterns of ostricization, cancel culture, dehumanization in the world around me.
And that’s when I usually hear cases and causes fought by the ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union. The great defender of civil rights.
Yet when I reached out to them, starting in 2017, and a number of times since…I hear they are overworked, underpaid, and just don’t have the bandwidth to fight every civil injustice. In Jace case, they were interested in the communications piece…the interception of information, along the lines of Bonnie Burkharts work. But the entrapments themselves? Not interested. Yes, they definitely know what’s happening…. it just somehow isn’t important enough.
Today I read an email from the ACLU, telling me about their fight against the FBI’s illegal surveillance of Muslim communities post 911. And while I applauded their fight, my thoughts went to – when will the injustice against our men be deemed malicious enough to be fought by the ACLU? What is the defining difference between big brother watching Muslims vs. big brother entrapping innocent men of any religion??
Every man, every person, seeks physical companionship. Every religion. Every race. Every nationality. Every being is hard-wired to procreate. What could possibly be more civil than relationships?
I’m very glad the ACLU is looking out for the civil rights of our Muslim American brothers and sisters. I truly am. I’m just a little confused on the hierarchy of what constitutes a malicious infraction against American civil liberties.
If not now, when? If not the ACLU, then who?
The Lady Justice Myth 
Jace’s case has no potential for political gain for the ACLU. Protection of civil liberties is no longer their main concern.
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I reached out to the ACLU, regarding my case. I was told they do not involve themselves in criminal cases, with civil rights violations or not. So basically, screw you and your civil rights, that doesn’t matter to us.
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The ACLU has a lot of priorities. The VA branch has added to it’s usual spate advocating for an independent oversight board for the Department of Corrections, another bureaucratic hot mess.
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I thought you wrote a very good writ of certiori, especially for a non-lawyer. Is the SCOTUS going to hear your case? I know an attorney who has filed a writ of Habeas Corpus here in Houston, challenging the law on First Amendment grounds; however it is a bit different from your case because in Texas we have a specific law called “Online Solicitation of a Minor”, which is similar but only requires that the actor solicit a meeting with someone he thinks is underage, with the intent to have sex. In other words the crime is committed when he says “let’s meet here to do it”. I can send you his brief if you want.
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I know the person whose case you are talking about. I have the brief too and have provided it to some CAGE members.
Do you know the person whose case this is too? I’m in Texas too.
Some of us attended the hearing for this in early October, but it was rescheduled to Nov. 9th. Then it was pushed out again. Now, it’s scheduled for 12/9. They switched the prosecutor for this case, last month, after they found out this argument was being made. 🤔
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Yes, I know him. I convinced him to hire his current lawyer, who is very good. His first lawyers just wanted him to plead out. The State probably switched lawyers because the other one wasn’t competent to argue the points in the Writ. I was told by my friend they were encouraging people to watch it by podcast due to COVID concerns. I have no doubt this case will be dismissed by the prosecution, thrown out upon motion of the defense, or lost at trial.
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I sure hope it gets dismissed. It needs to be. That’s the right thing to do. I just don’t know how many more lies they’ll try to pull and get away with. We know that’s what they’ve done already. I just don’t see how they can hide anymore or justify the fact that they hid important evidence.
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Thanks for a truthful article. It seems more organizations and companies are in favor of life time punishment for registrants.
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