THE PARTY YEARNS TO SILENCE DISSENT IN CROTON, A LETTER FROM THIS WEEK'S GAZETTE

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The Party Yearns to Silence Dissent in Croton 

July 30, 2021

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the editor:

“The Party” knows everything, and dissenting speech is quickly dealt with by government officials acting at the command of the leader, who presents himself as “Big Brother.”

That is the foundation of George Orwell’s classic 1984. Spend a few minutes looking at the news, and there are some disturbing parallels to our own time. But it does not have to be that way: before Croton gets to the dystopia of 1984, Croton may get rescued by “1983.”

To be precise, 42 US Code section 1983. It has become so famous that you can simply google “section 1983” and it pops right up. It is also a hot topic right now, raised in conversations about censorship in places virtual and physical: from Surgeon General Murthy to Croton’s Board of Trustees, censors of speech can be thwarted by a mighty 145-word paragraph.

The law was intended to be a bulwark against politicians depriving citizens of their rights by using laws and government enforcement agents. When first passed, it was literally a matter of life and death.  To read more, click here.

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