U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin
The legitimacy of our legal system rests not just on the ends it pursues, but on the means it employs. That principle is not ornamental. It is constitutional.
In a free society, authority must be visible. Power must answer to the people who grant it. Law does not wear a mask.
The uniform, the badge, the nameplate — these are not symbols of autonomous control. Rather, they are signs of lawfully conferred command. They tell the citizen that the officer is acting for the people.
In general, masked law enforcement is incompatible with the democratic values that sustain our Republic. Masking may invite compliance, but it does not encourage consent. Fear may compel obedience, but it corrodes trust.
When the government hides the identity of its agents, it invites doubt — about who is acting, and on whose authority. It strips the public of its right to recognition of its public officers.
A civil society should not — and cannot — long be held together by intimidation.
Today it is immigration. Tomorrow it may be tax enforcement, civil warrants, or public protest. The logic does not stop where it begins.
We the people are not governed by force. We the people are governed by law.
The law must always show its face.
Goodwin is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia.
