"The third test asks whether civil society leaders and organizations will remain free and independent. I wrote that a free and independent civil society-the faith communities, labor unions, community groups, and public charities through which people actually do the work of self-government-is the beating heart of our democracy. I expected the test to unfold gradually, through pressure on the legal defense infrastructure and quiet attrition at the edges of the field. I did not expect it to arrive in a single fortnight, in three high-profile cases, each focused on a different part of civil society."
"In a span of about two weeks, the Department of Justice secured an 11-count indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on charges that legal experts across the political spectrum have called defective and likely to be dismissed. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered Disney's eight ABC-owned television stations to file for years-early renewal of broadcast licenses within days of the president and first lady demanding that ABC fire Jimmy Kimmel over a joke. And in the same week, the DOJ secured a second indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over a deleted Instagram photo of seashells on a beach. Former federal prosecutors have called the indictment remarkably weak."
"None of these cases is built to win. That is what I want to sit with for a moment, because I think it is the part most easily missed. The Point of a Flimsy Indictment A flimsy indictment that is eventually dismissed still does its work. The work is signa"
A free and independent civil society is described as the core of democracy, including faith communities, labor unions, community groups, and public charities. Three high-profile cases within about two weeks illustrate pressure on different parts of civil society. The Department of Justice obtained an 11-count indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center on charges legal experts say are defective and likely to be dismissed. The FCC ordered Disney’s ABC-owned stations to file for years-early renewal of broadcast licenses after demands that ABC fire Jimmy Kimmel over a joke. In the same week, the DOJ obtained a second indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over a deleted Instagram photo. The cases are characterized as unlikely to succeed, yet still capable of producing effects.
Read at Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.
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