Lawful Assembly

This is our final episode. The demands of creating the show are much greater than its reach, so we are focusing our energies to do good in other ways and leaving the podcast behind.  We are grateful to all our listeners, and to all the people who commented and contacted us. We thank you for letting us be part of your lives for the last year. Carry on and fight the good fight.  Here are the shownot...

  Today we talk about the 14th amendment and the executive order to change it signed recently. We also talk about Episcopal DC Bishop the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, and the new policies of ICE https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/21/politics/ice-can-arrest-people-at-churches-and-schools https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/21/republican-reaction-jan-6-violent-offenders-trump-pardon/?utm_campaign=...

SHOW NOTES We talk about the confirmation hearings, the release of the special counsels report and the vote in Chicago to help protect immigrants.  https://news.wttw.com/2025/01/15/chicago-city-council-votes-39-11-reject-push-scale-back-protections-undocumented https://apnews.com/article/pete-hegseth-background-defense-secretary-confirmation-hearing-e160e10c86385a8beff110d9190fb34e https://www.reu...

SHOW NOTES  House Passes 'Laken Riley Act' to Deport Unauthorized Immigrants Charged With Minor Crimes - The New York Times AG Merrick Garland intends to release special counsel report on Trump's Jan. 6 case, DOJ says Justice Dept. to Hold Off Releasing Report on Trump Documents Case - The New York Times Trump Seeks to Halt His Criminal Sentencing in New York For information on the Laken Riley Act...

Today Craig answers several listener questions about religion and morality. Cecil chimes in with his thoughts. They both chat about the death of former President Jimmy Carter.      The idea of a trial of innocence asking each human whether to do well or not do well comes from André LaCocque, Onslaught Against Innocence, Cain, Abel, and the Yahwist.  (Eugene, Or., Cascade Books, 2008), p. 1.  See a...

We talk about pardons for immigrants in detention and then discuss a few Trump cases as he settles in to take office next month.    Show Notes    Part II of Craig's article that discusses all the biblical protagonists who would have been unlawful under U.S. immigration law, "You Were Told to Love the Immigrant, But What If the Story Never Happened? Hospitality and United States Immigration Law," V...

Mr. Homan makes a false claim that nine out of ten people who claim asylum never get relief.  ("Chicago to be ground zero for mass deportations, Trump border czar tells Illinois Republicans," Tina Sfondeles, December 9, 2024,  Chicago Sun Times :     https://chicago.suntimes.com/ politics/donald-trump/2024/12/ 09/border-czar-tom-homan- donald-trump-chicago-pritzker- brandon-johnson-immigration? ut...

We talk about several news stories on this week's show. Check out our show notes below:   For more information on the disproportionate toll on Palestinians lives since 1917, see Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017, (N.Y., Henry Holt & Co., 2020).    The Haaretz podcast quoted in this episode can be found at: https://www.ha...

You can find the op-ed by Thomas Friedman, "Mr. Trump, Do You Realize How Much the World Has Changed Since You Were President?" Nov. 26, 202 at:    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/ 11/26/opinion/trump-israel- iran.html   Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 3, 1863,  can be found at:   https://obamawhitehouse. archives.gov/sites/default/ files/docs/transcript_for_ abraham_lincoln_than...

A short solo podcast this week. Talking about what we talked about last week and clarifying for some listeners.

Today Craig and Cecil discuss the differences in how groups use Christianity to shape their ideas on immigration.    The chapter contrasting the Migrant 4 Life from MAGA Jesus and the immigration consequences of the Tower of Babel story, "A Migrant 4 Life Journeys to the New Tower of Babel: Christianity and Immigration," can be found at:   https://papers.ssrn.com/ sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id= 4769...

Craig and Cecil talk about the election results, what to do next and how to move forward.    Notes for this episode:   Marcela Valdes, "What a Crackdown on Immigration Could Mean for Cheap Milk,"  NY Times Magazine,  October 15, 2024:  https://www.nytimes.com/ 2024/10/15/magazine/milk- industry-undocumented- immigrants.html? searchResultPosition=1   Harriet Tubman's quote came from Tiya Miles book...

We spend much of this week's show talking about and playing clips from the Madison Square Garden Rally. We also cover some news stories about Elon Musk and a new defamation lawsuit filed against Donald Trump   Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism There's a Big New Defamation Lawsuit Against Trump. It's a Slam Dunk. Elon Musk, enemy of 'open borders,' launched...

Our guest Today is Dr. Jennifer McCoy, Ph. D. She is  a Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University. We discussed Pernicious Polarization, what causes it, and how to combat it. Overcoming Polarization Journal of Democracy, Volume 32, Number 1, January 2021, Johns Hopkins University Press Peter Marty's quote is from "Playing to the Crowds" in  The Christian Century  that  can be foun...

This week we talk about several news stories. All the stories are linked below. Megachurch pastor tells congregation to "vote like Jesus" by supporting Trump 'Trump Bible' one of few that meet Walters' criteria for Oklahoma classrooms FBI Kavanaugh probe tightly controlled by Trump White House, congressional report finds - The Washington Post DeSantis Threatening Jail Time for Running Abortion Rig...

This week we talk about the newest legal filing by Jack Smith in the DC Trump Case. We talk about what is in it and some commentary on the filing itself and the timing of the filing.  https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/73357920e3c8d739/8fc8bfd0-full.pdf How Jack Smith Outsmarted the Supreme Court Opinion | Jack Smith Owes Us an Explanation

Sweeping bill to overhaul Supreme Court would add six justices   Rudy Giuliani disbarred in D.C. over 2020 election scheme   Trump turns to darker rhetoric as voting begins : NPR   How Trump distorts immigration and crime data in new attacks on Harris - The Washington Post   Biden Administration Cements Harmful Asylum Restrictions   Two NIJC reports on the new Biden Asylum Rule   "NIJC Condemns De...

We talk about several stories on this week's show and field a voicemail from a listener.   Judge Aileen Cannon Failed to Disclose a Right-Wing Junket — ProPublica Marcellus Williams is executed despite prosecutors and the victim's family asking that he be spared | CNN Haitian group in Springfield, Ohio, files citizen criminal charges against Trump and Vance - ABC7 Chicago Opinion | GOP lies about...

We talk about several news stories this last week. We start by discussing the debates and then move on to talking about Ginni Thomas and the recent story in ProPublica enlisting help opposing SCOTUS reform.    Judge Sets Deadlines in Trump Election Case, Saying Campaign Is 'Not Relevant' Ginni Thomas Email Praised Group Opposing SCOTUS Reform — ProPublica Justice Amy Coney Barrett describes coming...

TRAC at Syracuse University's report on legal representation, "Too Few Immigration Attorneys: Average representation Rates Fall from 65% to 30%,  can be found at: https://trac.syr.edu/ reports/736/   Dorothee Soelle's quote can be found in  The Window of Vulnerability, A Political Spirituality , (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 1990),  p.7.   2025: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeader...

We cover several stories in the news this week:   The information regarding Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge removing more that one million voters from his state's voter registration came from political scientist Rober Mickey in "American Needs Georgia Republicans to Defend Democracy Again," Mary Gay, The New York Times, August 29, 2024:  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/29/opinion/georgia-election...

Today we read the section of Project 2025 on the restructuring of the Department of Homeland Security and what that has to do with the future of immigration in possible Trump presidency.    Show notes: Current USCIS Mission Statement:  https://www.uscis. gov/about-us/mission-and-core- values  Project 2025: https://static.project2025. org/2025_MandateForLeadership_ FULL.pdf  (Mission Statement is o...

Today I ask Craig about the year 1968 and the Democratic National Convention. He gives me a history lesson on the year leading up to the riots in Chicago.   References:  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  2024 DNC speech .    Senator Raphael Warnock's  2024 DNC speech .    The Executive Summary of the  "Rights in Conflict"  report regarding indiscriminate police violence at the 1968 DNC.   ...

Craig took a week off recording to head to the woods of Maine to enjoy this summer. I have a short message for our listeners to help the show grow. Full show next week!

Today we talk about immigration myths and debunk the most common ones that will crop up this election season.   The Refugee Convention and Protocoal Relating to the Status of Refugees (quote from page 5): https://www.unhcr.org/media/co nvention-and-protocol-relating -status-refugees For information on non-citizens voting and how few cases have been found, see:   https://bipartisanpolicy.org/b log/...