After church on Sunday, I went to the store and bought three votive lights for our front windows. One is for Pretti, one for Good, and one for Liberty. I’ll keep them there till lawfulness is restored in America.
I’ve explained the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis to my kids as follows:
You know how in the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians the barrier that protects the camp for the demi-gods is cracking, and here and there monsters and giants who are lined up outside to attack are able to break through and mow down some of the campers? The barrier is not completely gone, but it is cracking enough to let enemies in.
Well, that’s what’s happening now. The rule of law and constitutionalism are like a magical barrier that protect people from arbitrary power. Protection from arbitrary power means people can live in peace going about their business — tending to chores, enjoying recreation, praying, laughing, and crying over life’s regular trials and triumphs.
But when the barrier starts to break — when people cease to believe in the value of the rule of law and when leaders cease to uphold constitutionalism as a matter of personal honor and character — well, then, monsters break through. People who think they can act with impunity are behaving like those monsters.
Alex Pretti was using his first amendment rights to document the behavior of ICE agents, but that magical barrier — our constitutional rights — did not hold for him. While he was lying on the ground, greatly outnumbered and also by that point unarmed, an agent or agents fired ten shots at him, killing him.
The barrier of lawfulness and constitutionalism in our country is cracking. It has not disintegrated everywhere. Not by any means. But it is cracking badly enough to let monsters through.
The Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity may have had relatively little legal consequence for an executive branch that was already exceptionally powerful, as Jack Goldsmith has argued, but it seems to have had a great psychological consequence nonetheless. The decision delivered a message that nothing the President does can be sanctioned for unlawfulness except for via conviction on impeachment. That, we know, is essentially a paper barrier. Without sanctions, the very concept of the unlawful begins to disintegrate.
The President has made clear that he considers himself unbound by anything other than his own will. While he expressed his self-reliance in a discussion of national security, his action in Venezuela makes clear that he considers policing and military powers merged. This means that his conception of his domestic power is probably just as unbounded as his conception of his national security power. His frequent threats to invoke the Insurrection Act are unsurprising and continuous with the pattern of his behavior.
With the President psychologically uninhibited in his actions, largely free of sanction, and liberal with his pardon pen for fraudsters and violent offenders, he grants psychological cover to others who carry out his orders or act in alignment with his agenda. This psychological unboundedness is then reinforced by the loophole in our legal system whereby federal officials, in contrast to state officials, cannot usually be sued for damages for violations of constitutional rights.
The most extraordinary thing about the Alexander Pretti shooting is that ICE and CBP agents know that every single step they take is fully surveilled 24-7. With all the whistles blowing, how could anyone not be aware? Yet despite knowing they were being watched, an agent or agents shot an unarmed man, who was lying down, when they had a five to one or seven to one ratio against him, and the shooters didn’t stop after the first shot, or even the second or third. The shots rang out to ten. What could more powerfully convey total confidence in impunity? To act with such a clear expectation of being free from potential sanction is the definition of lawlessness.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, of the House Judiciary Committee, has demanded that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security produce records concerning their hiring of pardoned January 6th offenders into the DHS agent pool. Some pardoned offenders are senior employees in both agencies. This is known already. The spirit of lawlessness has entered the heart of government.
When the magical barrier of constitutionalism and the rule of law cracks up, people die — Alex Pretti and Renee Good. But liberty dies too.
Too many people think that liberty refers only to freedom from interference from government. Some, mainly on the right, embrace that limited view of liberty and champion it. Others, mainly on the left, reject liberty or freedom as a governing ideal because they take it to have only this thin meaning.
But there is a rich meaning of liberty also. I am free when I am able to steer my own life in my private sphere but also when I am empowered to steer in collaboration with others through our public institutions. Self-government isn’t just about what I do alone; it’s also about how we together as democratic citizens shape the direction of our society. When the executive branch tramples the legislative branch, our constitution is out of balance, and we the people are no longer setting the direction for our society. We have become subject to the arbitrary will of one man, the very condition the American colonists had a revolution to escape. Immigration detainees in Texas protested the death of Alex Pretti by chanting, “Libertad!”
We need to heal the barrier of constitutionalism and the rule of law that both protects us in our private, personal rights and also ensures that government of the people is both by and for the people. Or to put it another way: treatment of the people by federal agents should be carried out to standards established by the people through our Constitution.
Congress needs to assert itself. The Democrats are right to block passage of the upcoming budget until constitutionalism is restored in the behavior of federal agencies. Republicans should take a good hard look at the situation and find the resolve to steer back toward constitutionalism.
States need to protect their citizens’ basic rights. Governor Hochul, in New York, is wise to push for a bill that will allow people to sue federal agents for violations of constitutional rights in state courts, and every governor should follow suit immediately.
And anyone who wants to join the loyal opposition should advocate for a changed approach to immigration policy. The border should remain sealed, but deportation should be limited to undocumented migrants with felony convictions, plus unlawful arrivals within some to-be-determined period of recency, for instance, one year. Finally, we need modernized earned legalization for long-settled immigrants. Yes, it’s time for amnesty.
The U.S. now has roughly 14 million unauthorized residents. This is 4-5% of the American population. According to the definitions of the Trump administration, every single one of these people is a criminal, even though their act of unlawful entry would in most cases be a misdemeanor. In 2025, with its violent and harassing methods, the Trump administration deported somewhere between 540,000 people (as reported by the New York Times) and 675,000 (as claimed by the Trump administration). In 2024, the Biden administration deported 650,000 people. Deportation carried out within the bounds of constitutionalism cannot reduce the undocumented population to zero. An amnesty and re-set will be necessary.
Earned legalization for long-term residents who are embedded in families and workplaces can stabilize labor markets and communities and bring wage and tax gains. To avoid the mistakes of the 1986 amnesty, this path to legalization would not be blanket, but hinge on background checks; fines and taxes; and English language and civics requirements. It should also include a probationary period.
In the meanwhile, what can each of us do?
Put lights in your window for Pretti, Good, and Liberty so that we can begin to see how big the community is that wants to stand up for constitutionalism and rule of law.
Let your representatives in Congress know that you want to see immigration policy redirected and ICE and CPB behavior transformed.
Let your state representatives and governors know that you want to be able to sue federal agents in state courts if they violate your constitutional rights.
Use your voice. And pass it on: For Pretti, Good, and Liberty!
Finding the Loyal Opposition
My last two columns on the need for a Loyal Opposition, not just a resistance, have generated many further questions. Let me tackle the biggest ones here.
One if by land. Two if by sea. Three for Pretti, Good and liberty.
Candles and letters to our congresspeople aren't enough. We should look to Minneapolis as an example of collective action. We need to support immigrants and oppose ICE actions within our communities. Candles in the windows will not stop the Gestapo