Where Were the Lawyers?

The following guest essay concerns the (non-)response of the legal profession to the Corona tyranny that that has been imposed on us for the last two years.

Where Were the Lawyers?

by Blair Ericson

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen many local and state governments issue sweeping executive orders temporarily abrogating or severely limiting basic individual rights. Governors have shut down houses of worship and many businesses, and have mandated lockdowns (stay home), social distancing (keep away from other people) and the wearing of protective equipment (masks and gloves). Police officers were used to enforce these orders, and we have all heard stories of small business owners who were fined or even arrested for violating these executive orders.

People, including lawyers, were understandably panicked, and many willingly complied with these executive orders. Yet one would have expected the legal profession to object or at least push back a bit against the severe curtailment of basic constitutional rights. However, the legal profession was largely silent. Instead, it focused on issuing guidelines supporting these executive orders, cutting salaries and staff, holding online mental health support groups, and courses on navigating the “new normal.” One state bar association went even further and demanded mandatory vaccination.

In contrast, some limited pushback came from small business owners (especially hair salons and barbers) and several houses of worship. These businesses and houses of worship were then targeted by local government officials for allegedly violating the COVID-19 rules, and in some cases were people were jailed, licenses revoked and houses of worship threatened with permanent closure. Other than some isolated lawsuits commenced by attorneys representing some of these businesses and houses of worship, the legal profession has been silent.

The lack of response reminded me of a horrifying incident related by Sebastian Haffner in his semi-autobiographical work Defying Hitler. Haffner was a law clerk in one of Germany’s highest courts. Shortly after the Nazis took power, Haffner was doing legal research in the court’s library when several Nazi brownshirts burst into the library shouting “Out with the Jews!” Some Jewish lawyers quietly got up and left. One Jewish attorney refused to leave and was severely beaten. Neither Haffner nor any of the other lawyers objected, and several lawyers actually applauded.

Haffner felt ashamed because he had bought peace with his silence.

6 thoughts on “Where Were the Lawyers?

  1. Many thanks for posting this- I have been asking the same question ever since this nightmare began.

    I live in the Blue Marxist Gulag of Nueva York which has some of the most litigious lawyers in the world. They flood the media with ads begging people to hire them for all sorts of things: medical malpractice, 9/11 cancer, accidents, dog bites, slip and fall, you name it.

    Yet you don’t see even one ad for lawyers who want to help people sue their school boards for the child abuse they are inflicting on our children and grandchildren by forcing them to wear the muzzle masks all day long.

    I do know of a few lawyers around the state who have brought lawsuits against the phony mask mandate- the recommendation from the Health Department is not even legally binding- but they are not even publicizing their efforts.

    Even as I write this, the main lawsuit that actually won the first round and got the mask mandate removed, is sitting in the NY Appellate Court where a group of sleazy politicians, aka “judges” will be deciding our fate.

    The process goes like this: the plaintiffs sued Empress Hochul and the State demanding that they remove ALL the mandates for various and good reasons. They won that round in Nassau County supreme court (that is the highest court in the county) and the State immediately went to the higher up court and asked for a stay- that is, they asked them to let the mandates stay in place until they could make some more arguments. That is where we stand until some time in March.

    Meanwhile, all of the heavy lifting is being done by ordinary, non-aligned citizens, of which there are millions, who have had enough and who are starting to take matters into their own hands.

    God bless the Freedom Truckers!

    • Unless you have money to possibly throw away – 6 figures +, you have to get the assistance of an organization that would have some interest in your case and possibly fund raise from people who may support your cause. I watch Viva Frei/Robert Barnes a lot. The figure they threw out is $15,000 if you get subpoenaed to testify before congress to get coached by an attorney to avoid perjuring yourself. Michael Flynn was bankrupted over an allegedly false statement. I think that was a million dollars. That would be 20 years of gross pay for a lower middle income person. Let’s say you declare bankruptcy after that. Then you may have to pay the tax on all or some part of the debt as income. It really has been sometime since I have heard anyone say it is the best justice system in the world.

  2. I think the lawyers know who puts the butter on their bread.

    They may sue but I wouldnt be surprised if they get then countersued because of malprctise / abusing the word of the law etc – there is a saying in the USA that everyday you commit three felonies a day – so I think there is enough to keep them under control.
    And who assigns the cases where the accused has no mones and the state has to supply an attorney?

    So, I dont think they will rock the boat so to speak.

    But once the Corona Tyranny is over they will all be revealed to be hidden supporters of the freedom fighters. Does anybody dare to bet against me?

  3. In Hungary lawyers were involved in filing petitions to the Constitutional Court in the last two years, attacking the ultra vires government decrees; but the Constitutional Court rejected the appeals on ridiculously unlawful grounds and excuses. The whole game has been rigged, both the society and the legal system.

  4. Bar associations have bullied and threatened lawyers who might like to sue to overturn these tyrannical and useless Covid lock down , vaxx and mask mandates.

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