By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | In civil rights circles, it’s not uncommon to hear people say, “Justice delayed is justice denied,” particularly when it comes to recent shootings and deaths of Black men across America.
This phrase, a legal maxim attributed to 19th-century British statesman William Gladstone, led my father, a longtime Georgia columnist, to paraphrase it when considering how government doesn’t seem to work well these days. “Government delayed is government denied,” he suggested.
“What most Americans want is a government at all levels which stands for a fair and impartial functioning of our nation, and for the just execution of the laws it has passed,” he wrote in late January. “Back in the 50s and 60s, the Eisenhower and Kennedy years, people had a 75 percent trust in government. But these days, no matter the party, people have less than a 25 percent trust in government.”
That got me to think about how government, an unwieldy process sometimes likened to making sausage, often seems to be stalled from doing much that’s meaningful at all. Here are two examples just this week:
State senators continued to debate whether to approve the so-called “Compassionate Care Act,” a proposal pushed for eight years by state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, to allow people ailing from epilepsy, cancer and more to use legal cannabis to relieve major pain and suffering. While Davis says it’s the most conservative medical marijuana proposal in the country, opposition remains and the bill seems like it’s being talked to death. After eight years.
Next, there’s a renewed call for South Carolina legislators to pass a hate crimes law. The Palmetto State and Wyoming are the only two states in the union to not have such a measure. In a state that spawned a racist hopped up on Internet hate who gunned down nine people praying in a Charleston church, it’s not too much to ask lawmakers to criminalize hate. And if they want to go further, they can wake up and close the gun loophole that allowed the murderer to buy the pistol used in the slayings more than six years ago.
With both cases, the people are waiting for government to act. In Washington, it’s no different as Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate seem to be in a continuing game of one-upmanship simply to score points, not do much to help regular people.
Notes my father in his column:
“Because of the 50-50 split between the parties in the Senate, Republicans are stalling with all their might, not allowing even simple bills to get to the floor. President Biden’s plan to bolster many aspects of our government, such as passing a voting improvement plan, and items to bolster our infrastructure, are turned back by Republican shenanigans.
“The main obstructionist in all this is Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who by his use of his Senate rules has already changed the way the Supreme Court is now made up. McConnell has said that Senate Republicans will offer no legislative agenda before the 2022 elections and that he is ‘100 percent’ focused ‘on stopping’ Biden. That in itself seems to be another way to say ‘government denied.’ And now can McConnell block another Supreme Court nomination?”
National, state and local governments don’t need to rush things and create bad legislation that may lead to unintended, harmful consequences. But they need to talk with each other, collaborate and work on problems, not just obstruct, obfuscate and slither.
South Carolina has myriad challenges that need serious attention – better teacher pay, proven education programs that fill big gaps, access to health care for more of our neighbors, tax fairness and comprehensive tax reform. Our state’s ethics laws need to be updated to stop giving unfair advantages to legislators.
Our governments are supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people. These days, the first two seem to be broken so they often are of little help. We can do better.
Andy Brack, editor and publisher of Statehouse Report, also is publisher of the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!