— Benjamin Carlson (@bfcarlson) February 7, 2023
In the last interview of his life (1996), astronomer Carl Sagan gave an uncannily prescient warning of the dangers that arise when you cannot ask skeptical scientific questions of those in authority. Watch and ask yourself: was he right? pic.twitter.com/I5DKu7su2K
"Decency,
security, and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected
to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government
of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe
the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher.
For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is
contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law;
it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To
declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the
means -- to declare that the government may commit crimes in order to secure
the conviction of a private criminal -- would bring terrible retribution. Against
that pernicious doctrine this court should resolutely set its face."
Louis
Brandeis
Dissenting,
Olmstead v. United States,277 U.S.438 (1928).
"Tanto la decencia, como la seguridad y
la libertad exigen que los funcionarios públicos estén sometidos a las mismas
reglas de conducta que son obligaciones para el ciudadano. En un gobierno de
leyes, la existencia del gobierno se pondrá en peligro si él no observa la ley
escrupulosamente.Nuestro
gobierno es el potente, el omnipresente maestro. Para bien o para mal el enseña
a toda la gente con su ejemplo. El crimen es contagioso. Si el gobierno se
convierte en un quebrantador de la ley, él alimenta el resentimiento por la ley;
él invita a cada hombre a ser ley por sí mismo; él invita a la anarquía.Declarar que en la administración del
derecho penal el fin justifica los medios-declarar que el gobierno puede
cometer crímenes para asegurar la condena de un delincuente- traería una
terrible consecuencia. A esta doctrina perniciosa este tribunal debería
resueltamente hacerle frente."
Louis Brandeis
Dissenting,
Olmstead v. United States,
277 U.S.
438 (1928)
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