THE RULE OF LAW DOES NOT RULE IN LAS CRUCES

      In this campaign, more than in any other which I can recall over the past 76 years, the rule of law—not “law and order”—is a major, maybe the major, issue.  In considering the issue, I looked back to the earliest continuing law in the Western World, the Ten Commandments.  Notably, they fuse legal requirements and religious guidance, and are not merely associated with, but essential to, Judaism.  Thus, Jewish law has the inherent approval and inalienable support of religion.  So, too, Islam, its sibling; not, Christianity, its offspring, with its different relationship to law.

     Arguably, Christianity offers no legal (and little moral) guidance.  The argument would begin by noting Paul’s repudiation of Jewish law and Christian antipathy to that law ever since.  As a member of a discussion group of members of Peace Lutheran Church who read a book about reforming Christianity in the 21^st century, I observed that Christianity had no code of conduct as Judaism had, with its 613 laws.  That statement of fact prompted an angry response from two members who demanded to know why Jews needed so many laws; surely, the Ten Commandments were sufficient.  Silence for a moment.  So I replied that it was appropriate only for Jews to choose which and how many laws they want for themselves.  The objection to the number of laws likely unread suggests discomfort with submission to the rule of law.

The argument would continue by observing that Jesus’ various urgings—resist not evil, turn the cheek, love your enemy—are not injunctions, are vague, and are reactive in moral situations.  They lack specific directions for righteous living.  It would conclude by admitting the omission of anything about Christ’s mission or message from the Nicene or Apostles Creeds.  Indeed, some might argue that the fact that Christianity is largely devoid of moral content—some years ago, a chain bookstore carried a book entitled Christian Ethics, which consisted of blank pages—is what has given it international appeal; it has no moral requirements and makes no moral demands which might conflict with cultural norms in different societies.  For many, it is sufficient to be a Christian to do your own thing and have faith that Jesus forgives and loves you.

 

One might counter-argue with the example of Jesus’ life and his concern for the poor, the weak, the oppressed, and his indifference to ritualistic precision.  But his example is consistent with Judaism and not distinctively Christian.  Moreover, an example creates no obligation.  Observers might or might not follow his example as they see fit.

 

When Christians want to stress the law and the rule of law they fall back on the foundational laws of Judaism, the Ten Commandments, as the two good Lutherans in the discussion group did.  But the fallback position is rhetorical, not real.  Christians may want the Ten Commandments posted in school rooms for children, but they do not want priests or ministers to address, say, adultery, which about half of their congregations commit.  (We all know the good news/bad news joke about that one.)  In short, in itself, Christianity, unlike Judaism, gives little support to the law or the rule of law.  Render unto Caesar is about as close to support of secular law as Christianity gets.

 

Religion to encourage obedience to the law counters the general reluctance to obey the law, to accept it as a guide ruling one’s conduct.  Absent religion, obedience to the law is necessary for some degree of public safety and social cohesion.  The reason for reluctance in a free society is obvious; it means voluntarily submitting to an external, higher authority—an act requiring humility and self-discipline.  In an individualistic and anti-authoritarian culture like America’s, people do not readily submit to restraints on conduct.  Letting it all hang out is a high virtue; being judgmental, even about oneself (go easy on yourself), is disparaged.  The national motto seems to be “rules are made to be broken.”

 

Most of us as youths pleased ourselves with breaking expectations or the rules in the diverse ways of adolescent rebellion.  Most of us outgrew childish ways as the demands of adult social coexistence required a modicum of self-restraint.  In my day, we regarded as low-lifes those who did not act like adults—thus we expressed it—with manners, decency, and honesty.  Steve Bannon, Rudi Guiliani, and Elon Musk would not be allowed on the White House grounds except as tourists.

 

As the nation’s social fabric frays—it seems nearly in tatters these days—, we recognize that growing numbers of adults are turning away from rules of any kind and especially the rule of law to the rule of powerful people who are vulgar and violent.  So successful are they that their followers revert to delinquency and deification.  Some Republicans associate Donald Trump with the Christian godhead or believe that God saved him from assassination for His special purpose on earth.  Never mind the First Commandment that we shall have no other gods before Him.  In such perverse ways, Christian nationalism is a fraud perpetrated and perpetuated by predominantly white people who use the labels and paraphernalia of Christianity as tribal identifiers, not as signifiers of religious convictions or a moral commitment to the law and the rule of law.

 

What is true about the breakdown of the rule of law at the national level is equally true at the local level.  In many respects, that breakdown is less dramatic but no less corrosive and pernicious.  We already know about my complaints about a police force which made false allegations about code violations; about police chiefs, mayors, and councilors who ignored officer dishonesty, LCPD policy violations, and antisemitism; and about their silent, do-nothing response—no transparency or accountability—to these complaints over a period of 5 years.  In my case, nobody listened, or nobody answered.

 

In other cases, too.  Now we learn about the many complaints of people seeking and not receiving medical attention at Memorial Medical Center, complaints reflecting its likely violations of its legal obligations under its lease with the city, complaints ignored for years by the members of City Council.  Councilor Bencomo implied (Bulletin, 6 Sep) that the members of City Council are too small, too weak, too fearful to deal with serious problems.  Asked why these complaints are only now being addressed,

 

Bencomo said that the government had taken a “disempowered approach” to MMC.  “Truthfully, at one point it used to feel like, ‘what could city council really do about our very broken for-profit healthcare system?’  It all felt too big, and I thought that's what this conversation was about.  But by disempowering our governing body, we disempowered our community, and we disempowered patients’ voices,” Bencomo said.

 

Note her admission “It all felt too big.”  View her talk about “our very broken for-profit healthcare system” as a ploy to use a general problem to distract from a specific problem and a play for sympathy.  Interpret “disempowered approach” to mean a cowardly, problem-dodging approach.  Conclude that members of City Council do not think about the legal implications of issues which come before them.

 

The City government’s disregard of the law is one thing; its active violation of the law is another.  I have blogged that many, deliberate, and costly violations of the Inspection of Public Records Act had the support of the Law Office.  The City claims to process 1800 IPRA requests a year without complaint.  Because I doubt that my complaint was unique, I suspect that the City Clerk has violated IPRA in processing other complaints—violations unknown to or unchallenged by requesters.

 

I have also sketched out some violations not only of City Council’s ordinance creating the Public Safety Select Committee (now apparently inactive), but also of its multiple violations of the Open Meetings Act.  If, after I complete my review of the documents released under my IPRA request, I discover other violations, I shall report them and address the issues raised by City Council’s multi-year violation of the public’s right to know how the City’s government frequently operates in defiance of law.

 

Meanwhile, because City Council might have met in secret sessions and reached decisions by rolling quorums, the New Mexico Attorney General is investigating whether it violated OMA in the process of hiring the current City Manager.

 

At this point, it is fair to infer that City Council, at least in the past half dozen years or so, has operated in disregard of the law or in defiance of the rule of law when it suits its convenience.  It prefers secrecy, even if it involves law-breaking, to avoid the discomfort of addressing problems in public which might risk demonstrating its timidity, its weakness, and its incompetence.  If the City’s elected officials and its ranking officers have no respect for the law which governs the City and its citizens, I think that they deserve no respect in corrupting the rule of law.