Prof. Patricia J. Williams, The New York Review of Books, Dec. 5, 2024
“A witch locations a curse on a household’s favourite daughter. An evil dragon devours the firstborn babe of the king. It’s biblical: damning the son for the sins of the daddy. It’s what crime syndicates do: threatening the bodily integrity of a beloved as “incentive” for a debtor to cough up ransom. We view such bargaining as felony when extracted by people—and even when the risk is issued by the gods. What, then, to make of a constitutional democracy that builds such a cost scheme into its very system of justice? What to make of a political regime that explicitly designs an immigration coverage for eradicating kids from dad and mom simply to “disincentivize” future migrants from looking for asylum inside its borders? That, in fact, is the essence of the “zero tolerance” little one separation program begun underneath President Donald Trump. Whereas unaccompanied kids had been detained by earlier administrations, kids arriving with their households had not been routinely taken from their dad and mom until these dad and mom represented a risk to their well being or welfare. And by no means earlier than in our historical past had there been an precise coverage of removing devised merely as theatrical cruelty that may serve to frighten different migrants from coming right here. …”
“Professor Williams, one of the provocative intellectuals in American legislation and a pioneer of each the legislation and literature and important race idea actions in American authorized idea, holds a joint appointment between the Faculty of Legislation and the Division of Philosophy and Faith within the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. She can be director of Legislation, Expertise and Ethics Initiatives within the Faculty of Legislation and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.”
