So far as government officials are concerned, there's no authority like amorphous authority. Even better when that amorphous authority is wielded against ill-defined crimes, so that the powers-that-be have carte blanche to ruin the day of whoever draws their attention. That's what we're looking at with the Department of Justice's new Office of Environmental Justice, which enacts a racialized vision of law and, importantly, hands officialdom a free hand in the process.
"The Justice Department has three essential responsibilities: upholding the rule of law, keeping our country safe, and protecting civil rights. Seeking and securing justice for communities that are disproportionately burdened by environmental harms is a task demanded by all three of those responsibilities," Attorney General Merrick Garland insisted last week as he introduced the Justice Department's new Office of Environmental Justice and its underlying strategy.
"The burdens of environmental pollution have long been borne disproportionately by members of minority, tribal and low-income communities," added Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, who signed off on the memo formalizing the strategy. "No American should have to live, work or send their kids to school in a neighborhood that carries a disproportionate share of environmental hazards."
One might think that it's the hazards themselves that pose the problem, not the identities of the people on the receiving end, but the Justice Department memo...
Early voting in the U.S. midterm elections is underway. Voters are deciding which party will control Congress, as well as numerous state legislatures and governors' offices. Snopes' fact-checker...