We Must Reject Lawlessness in All Its Forms

What is the dividing line between liberty and license? Between the rights of the individual and the requirements of a well-ordered society? These questions provoked heated arguments between the Founders of our great nation and continue to inspire passionate debate to this day.

Let’s be absolutely clear: The freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble and petition the government are enshrined in the First Amendment and are the keystone of our constitutional order. But these rights do not grant citizens the freedom to break the law – a fundamentally illiberal notion that has unfortunately infected American politics in recent years, especially among progressives. From the riots of 2020 to the anti-ICE demonstrations roiling Minneapolis today, activists seem to believe that the law can and should be ignored if one doesn’t happen to agree with it, or if one feels that one’s own concerns take precedence over the rights of others. 

Take action with us and add your name to the petition: Defeat the Left’s War on Freedom.

Consider the recent incident in which a group of anti-ICE protestors disrupted a Minneapolis church service because they believed the pastor might be affiliated with immigration enforcement. For this gang of radicals and their credulous defenders, their anger over our country’s immigration laws trumped the right of the parishioners of this church to exercise their First Amendment right to worship freely, as well as the property rights of the church, which asked them to leave the premises. Such people wrap their desire to obstruct the law and harass others in the garb of free speech, when in fact they have zero regard for the First Amendment rights of others, and act in violation of federal law.

We’ve also seen the emergence of a dangerous culture of obstruction, in which mobs of protestors convene with the express intention not of peacefully making their voices heard, but of preventing the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws. Leave aside the dangers inherent in such actions – it is illegal to obstruct an officer attempting to lawfully execute his or her duties. Yet instead of exercising responsible political and moral leadership and explaining these distinctions to the public, Left-wing opportunists like Tim Walz, Jacob Frey, and Keith Ellison are fanning the flames of civic discord. This does nothing to advance their cause, but only serves to further degrade trust in American institutions and put people in danger.

This isn’t just about protesting specific policies; it’s about establishing a norm that the mob can prevent governing authorities from implementing the law if they don’t happen to like the law in question. Such an approach has no basis in the concept of ordered liberty enshrined in our Constitution and is a recipe for chaos and the tyranny of the crowd.

The fact that this attitude has gained so much ground is one of the greatest indictments of our failing public schools. In our republic, laws are not handed down on tablets of stone, but derive their authority from the people acting through elected officials. Anyone with even a passing acquaintance with American Civics knows that our system – flawed though it may be – is meticulously designed to provide multiple avenues of redress if the state passes laws or regulations that one finds objectionable. When laws are considered undesirable, unjust, or unconstitutional, there are multiple avenues available for redress, including petitioning elected Representatives; advocating for change in the press or through peaceful protest; making one’s displeasure known at the ballot box; or, in cases where there is legal standing to do so, taking their complaints to the courts. 

Someone once opined, “Where law ends, tyranny begins.” When lawlessness is given free rein, it corrodes our social fabric and undermines the rights of all Americans. As Americans, we should expect better from ourselves – and demand it from our political leaders.

Take action with us and add your name to the petition: Defeat the Left’s War on Freedom.