Carmen_M._Ortiz.jpg

U.S. Attorney Carmen OrtizI go away for a week and what happens? All hell breaks loose in my home of Boston and environs, and it becomes the news center of the world as a horrible example of urban terrorism in action. 

 

Having been glued yesterday to the television coverage of the tracking of the surviving Boston Marathon bomber, like much of the rest of the country, I’m kind of glad I wasn’t around for the rest of the week. It gets tiring, almost numbing, watching the repetitious coverage. The main benefit was that all the TV coverage was provided sans advertising.

 

I’m as glad as everyone that the suspects were taken off the street. On the lighter side, I kind of wondered, seeing the aunts and uncles of the Tsarnaev brothers interviewed, how the hell these guys took the risk of pissing off their families–those are some tough people, and if I were one of the brothers, I would have almost been more afraid of incurring their wrath than that of the cops. 

 

Seriously, though, in the back of my mind, I worry that the events, and especially the glorification of the police actions, will be used like 9-11 was used–as an excuse to further encroach on civil liberties. Like I said, it’s a back-of-the-mind kind of thing right now, but watching the law-enforcement people literally falling all over themselves to grab some of the limelight in the aftermath of the suspect’s capture, I felt uneasy. Especially hearing Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney for the Boston area, say that bomber suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, picked up hiding in the boat, didn’t need to be read his Miranda Rights (the right to remain silent, have an attorney present while being questioned) because it was a “public safety” issue. Ortiz, if you’ll remember, is the U.S. Attorney who helped drive software hacker suspect Aaron Swartz to commit suicide by piling on the charges.

 

Sorry, but the American way is to assert that this suspect’s rights will be respected, even if those of the suspect’s ilk wouldn’t respect the rights of Americans. That’s why we have a Bill of Rights and Miranda Rights judicial precedent.  

**

It’s been a tough week for Wisconsin farmer Vernon Hershberger, as well. His chicken coop and machine shed burned down in the middle of the night a few days ago. He may be looking for community help in rebuilding it. It comes at an inopportune time, as he’s preparing to defend himself against misdemeanor charges in connection with the distribution of raw milk and other food to members of his food club. 

 

A Facebook page has gone up with details of the upcoming trial, set to begin May 20. Make your plans now to attend if you possibly can. 

**

A very nice comment from food fermentation guru Sandor Katz about my upcoming book (due out in June), “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Food Rights”: “This book will get you fired up! David Gumpert makes an eloquent case for the importance of food rights and documents the actions of government regulators against small farms and buyers clubs. These infuriating stories are woven together and contextualized by Gumpert’s insightful legal and political analysis. For anyone interested in reclaiming food, this book shows you that you are part of a larger political struggle.” Many thanks to Sandor for taking the time to read the bound galleys.