The story is now an old one.
In Western societies, there is now a tremendous disconnect between the traditional political and business elites and the citizenry. The populations of the West now find themselves ruled by a transnational elite who see tradition, loyalty, and patriotism as primitive, and whose promoters within academia, nonprofits, government bodies, labour unions, NGOs, and the media teach that nations, citizenship, borders, and law defined by elected parliaments are irksome problems to be overcome.
I cannot say exactly when I saw these symptoms first arise in the United States. But more than a decade ago, I was clerking in a federal courthouse. It was a good gig. I was glad to have it. The public—litigants, lawyers, jurors, witnesses,** and visitors—went through the front entrance with a security check. Court officials and employees (including judicial law clerks) went through a back entrance, also, with a security check. One day, early in my tenure, I was going through the security check, and an older man went around me and bypassed screening. The security officer waved him through. After I went through security, I asked the security officer:
2 thoughts on “Seth Barrett Tillman: <i>My Personal Brexit: Courthouse Security Checks</i>”
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I’m not sure I agree with the argument. The judges are there every day. If they are the only regular attendees who bypass screening, I would be more in agreement but I think most lawyers are also not required to go through screening in courthouses as long as they are familiar to the guards.
When I work in the recruit center, I walk past screening and the guards know who I am am. I doubt regular employees are required to do so.
I could never figure out the way they run things at courthouses, either. They have a high profile trial featuring violent defendants who are then brought in and taken out the front door. It’s almost as though they want the drama, and security risks. Totally unnecessary. Judges in this era should be going through security just like everyone else.
I’m reminded of the grim lover’s spat that went down in NYC City Hall some years ago. Big brouhaha over security, metal detectors, etc. A week or two later, staff and personnel were spotted stepping around security and the detectors. NYC has people I would consider dangerous, individuals with ties to radical, hard left and revolutionary groups. Everybody should go through security.
http://www.citymayors.com/news/nyc_cityhall_shooting.html