Sheryl WeikalMar 9

The question I get more than any other as a trial lawyer is "how can they do that? Isn't that illegal?"

How can the cop lie under oath? How can the landlord evict me for my religion or race? How can my job fire me for being queer? Isn't that illegal?

Show threadSheryl Weikal

Last year, a person told me that murder should be illegal. When I said it was, they told me that wasn't possible because people were still doing it.

Even now, almost halfway through Trump 2.0, I'm still seeing people say "how can he do that? Isn't that illegal?"

Mar 9 at 2:54pmopenvibe
Show threadSheryl WeikalMar 9

To this day I still have people saying that the Israeli genocide in Gaza can't be happening because genocide is illegal.

But please understand something. I've said it before and I will say it again:

ILLEGAL DOES NOT MEAN IMPOSSIBLE.

Show threadSheryl WeikalMar 9
Laws of society aren't laws of physics. It's not like gravity where you can choose to you can choose to just fall upwards instead. People can't choose to follow or ignore laws of physics. We CAN choose to disregard laws of society. Anyone can. You do it on the highway every day.
Show threadSheryl WeikalMar 9
Every day people ask me how we can have laws that enforce themselves, like an automatic impeachment. But that's literally not how laws work. There is no such thing as a self enforcing law. And every time we make something else illegal, we manufacture a new reason to put marginalized people in cages.
Show threadSheryl WeikalMar 9
We're not going to get out of this by passing more laws. There's already a law against a person who tries to overthrow the government becoming president, and yet here is Trump being president anyway. A person only has those legal protections that can and will be enforced.
Show threadSheryl WeikalMar 9

So we won't get out of this by passing more laws. Sure, some would help, but making what's already illegal even more illegal won't make Trump not do it.

What we need is to address the culture that gives rise to people like Trump and his supporters in the first place.

And that's much harder.

Show threadCassandrichMar 9
@theleftistlawyer Where I think you could really make progress with laws is not "here's a new thing someone can theoretically be removed or jailed for, but nobody is going to enforce it against anyone in power" but removing legal impunity that already exists. Outlawing qualified immunity, civil forfeiture. Legalizing self defense and community defense against harm by agents of the state. Etc.
Show threadPine AffinityMar 9
There is no law without power and power involves employing violence.
@theleftistlawyer
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEMar 9
@theleftistlawyer Speed bumps are the usual example given.
Show threadAlisonW ♿🏳️‍🌈♾️Mar 9
@TimWardCam @theleftistlawyer
Or just speed limits. It's illegal to go too fast but that doesn't stop some people from dangerous driving.
Show threadStill Breathing 🇨🇦🇧🇧🇲🇽🇬🇱Mar 9
@theleftistlawyer
Robert Anton Wilson said many times, the primary accomplishment of a new law is creating a new class of criminals.