If you defend the Constitution and believe in our founding principles, you know they are under assault by modern society. This isn’t something new. It has slowly progressed over the past 100 years or so.
What is different now is the assault originates from multiple fronts, and there is little escaping it. Whether on social media, pop culture, or conventional media sources, it can consume our lives if we allow it.
George Mason said it best. The Commonwealth of Virginia has had several iterations. There is one phrase of Mason’s that has always been retained. Mason said,
“No free government or the blessings of liberty can be preserved to any people but, by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”
Associate Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito spoke to the Federalist Society last Thursday. His message focused on the unprecedented stress on our unalienable rights in the wake of COVID-19. A few of the examples Justice Alito used were restrictions on religious freedom and a citation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (named by Convention of States Project’s Co-Founder Michael Farris).
Here are a few excerpts of Justice Alito’s speech:
“I'm now going to say something that I hope will not be twisted or misunderstood, but I have spent more than 20 years in Washington, so I'm not overly optimistic. In any event, here goes: The pandemic has resulted in previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty.
"Now, notice what I am not saying or even implying. I am not diminishing the severity of the virus's threat to public health… All that I'm saying is this -- and I think it is an indisputable statement of fact: We have never before seen restrictions as severe, extensive, and prolonged as those experienced for most of 2020.”
“The COVID crisis has served as a sort of constitutional stress test. And in doing so it has highlighted disturbing trends that were already present before the virus struck.
"One of these is the dominance of lawmaking by executive fiat rather than legislation. The vision of early 20th century Progressives and the New Dealers of the 1930s was that policymaking would shift from narrow minded elected legislators to an elite group of appointed experts. In a word, the policymaking would become more scientific. That dream has been realized to a large extent. Every year administrative agencies acting under broad delegations of authority churn out huge volumes of regulations that dwarf the statutes enacted by the People's elected representatives.”
“The rights of the free exercise of religion is not the only once-cherished freedom that is falling in the estimation of some segments of the population. Support for freedom of speech is also in danger. And COVID rules have restricted speech in unprecedented ways. As I mentioned, attendance at speeches, lectures, conferences, conventions, rallies, and other similar events has been banned or limited. And some of these restrictions are alleged to have included discrimination based on the viewpoint of the speaker.”“….in the end, there is only so much that the judiciary can do to preserve our Constitution, and the liberty it was adopted to protect. As Learned Hand famously wrote, "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can do much to help it."
For all Americans, standing up for our Constitution and our freedom is work that lies ahead.”
Those are wise words from Justice Alito. Defending liberty and the Constitution is our burden to bear. This isn’t easy work, but there is nothing more important that we can do with our time. Obviously, caring for friends and family is of supreme importance. What kind of country will we leave to them?
The Framers provided the tools we need to accomplish this mission. Like a hammer sitting in a toolbox, it is useless without a knowledgeable operator to use it. To be properly used, there must be awareness, knowledge, and action. That is what our Convention of States volunteers do daily.
Join us at www.conventionofstates.com. Opt in for our text messaging and join us for our bi-weekly conference calls on Monday night.
You can find the full video and text from Associate Justice Alito’s speech here.
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