Every day, news stories reveal just how vulnerable regular people are in their dealings with government agencies and corporations, the two dominant forces in American life.
Individual citizens are like small boats adrift on a vast ocean, and they generally go where the current or wind takes them. The wealthiest and most powerful among us have sails and rudders to harness power for their own benefit, but most of us have limited ability to avoid disaster.
That’s why we should celebrate cases in which the rights of individuals are defended against the coercive interests of the powerful.
This week, the Colorado Supreme Court threw out key evidence in the case of accused rapist Juan Pascual, whom police detained and questioned for more than nine hours in a 2002 Greeley case. Police officers failed to inform Pascual of his Miranda rights; therefore, the court refused to admit incriminating statements that he made.
The quick reaction of many people will be to rail against the Miranda rule, because it allows suspects to “get off” on technicalities before the merits of the case are debated. However, this is no small technicality. Law enforcement agencies are enormously powerful and Miranda warnings are a very minimal protection for individuals.
Regardless of whether Pascual is guilty or innocent, the Supreme Court protected all of us by insisting that police departments resist the temptation to take advantage of citizens who may not know their rights.
Or take the case of Ross Hopkins, 41, of Greeley, who alleges hhelost his job when he ran afoul of corporate power. In a nation in which nearly everyone has to have a job (or live with someone who has a job), the power to take away employment is a significant control mechanism.
Hopkins says he was fired by American Eagle, a Budweiser distributor, after his boss’ son-in-law saw him drinking a Coors beer on his day off. Hopkins has filed a lawsuit against the company, and we should all root for him to win.
If the court affirms American Eagle’s right to fire an employee merely for consuming a rival product, then all of us will lose a measure of freedom in our private lives. If you work for Hewlett-Packard, you’ll have to worry about getting fired for buying a Dell laptop. A Ford worker could be in danger if he purchases a Honda for his son.
In a dangerous affirmation of corporate power, a bankruptcy court has ruled that United Airlines can discard its pension plan. Many people view pensions as corporate largess that can be discontinued the moment they become unaffordable, but a pension is not a gift – it’s deferred compensation.
Whenever a court rules in favor of the powerful at the expense of regular citizens, it takes away another meager navigational tool and leaves all of us more at the mercy of powerful institutional currents. The United ruling is a threat to anyone who has a pension plan.
Then there is the unequal power of transactions. You’re rarely on par with the businesses from whom you purchase, because they know more about their products than you do and they engage in sales every day, whereas, you make purchases comparatively infrequently.
According to a 9News report, Amy Gooch, 33, of Centennial, claims that Phil Long Ford of Denver pressured her to pay for extras when she bought a Ford Explorer in January. Several Spanish-speaking customers have complained that Mountain States Toyota and Stevinson Toyota East used the language barrier to exploit them.
State investigators are looking into these cases, but whether they’re true or false, they reveal our vulnerability. It’s often difficult for us to know when we’re being abused.
Fortunately, courts and media outlets can help us seek redress, but it means we have to fight against efforts by lawmakers and judges to undermine our access to courts and/or ability to protect our privacy.
These are our only defenses in the tumultuous world of the powerful.
