Skip navigation
Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual - Header

Articles by John W. Whitehead

Suspending the Constitution: Police State Uses Crises to Expand Its Lockdown Powers

By John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute, March 24, 2020

 “That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn’t even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn’t even an enemy you could put your finger on.” — Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

 You can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis, legitimate or manufactured.

This coronavirus pandemic is no exception.

Not only are the federal and state governments unraveling the constitutional fabric of the nation with lockdown mandates that are sending the economy into a tailspin and wreaking havoc with our liberties, but they are also rendering the citizenry fully dependent on the government for financial handouts, medical intervention, protection and sustenance.

Unless we find some way to rein in the government’s power grabs, the fall-out will be epic.

Everything I have warned about for years—government overreach, invasive surveillance, martial law, abuse of powers, militarized police, weaponized technology used to track and control the citizenry, and so on—has coalesced into this present moment.

The government’s shameless exploitation of past national emergencies for its own nefarious purposes ...

Nullify Government Tyranny: In 2020, Harness the Power of Your Discontent

by John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute – Commentary

“The people have the power, all we have to do is awaken that power in the people. The people are unaware. They’re not educated to realize that they have power. The system is so geared that everyone believes the government will ...

Who Inflicts the Most Gun Violence in America? The U.S. Government and Its Police Forces

by John W. Whitehead, Commentary, The Rutherford Institute

“It is often the case that police shootings, incidents where law enforcement officers pull the trigger on civilians, are left out of the conversation on gun violence. But a police officer shooting a civilian counts as gun violence. Every time an ...

Don’t Shoot the Dogs: The Growing Epidemic of Cops Shooting Family Dogs

by John W. Whitehead, Commentary, The Rutherford Institute

In too much of policing today, officer safety has become the highest priority. It trumps the rights and safety of suspects. It trumps the rights and safety of bystanders. It’s so important, in fact, that an officer’s subjective fear of a minor ...

Armed and Dangerous: If Police Don’t Have to Protect the Public, What Good Are They?

by John W. Whitehead, Commentary, The Rutherford Institute

After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military. ...

Government Eyes Are Watching You: We Are All Prisoners of the Surveillance State

by John W. Whitehead, Commentary, The Rutherford Institute

“We’re run by the Pentagon, we're run by Madison Avenue, we're run by television, and as long as we accept those things and don't revolt we'll have to go along with the stream to the eventual avalanche.... As long as we go ...

Dial T for Tyranny: While America Feuds, the Police State Shifts Into High Gear

by John W. Whitehead, Commentary, The Rutherford Institute

What characterizes American government today is not so much dysfunctional politics as it is ruthlessly contrived governance carried out behind the entertaining, distracting and disingenuous curtain of political theater. And what political theater it is, diabolically Shakespearean at times, full of sound ...

 

 

The Habeas Citebook: Prosecutorial Misconduct Side
Advertise here
The Habeas Citebook Ineffective Counsel Side