Join the Crowd

Have you ever joined a crowd and picketed something? Me neither. I’ve never been a civil disobedience guy, but maybe I still can.  Some local high school kids are going to picket President Trump, protesting his policies, mostly on immigration. I’m glad to see them involved. Really, I am! Just being keyboard warriors with your circle of friends isn’t involvement, so getting off their phones and pounding the pavement is a good thing. Of course, being kids, they’ll probably be on their phones the whole time they are picketing, but adults aren’t any better. 

Apparently the kids don’t feel safe anymore. Apparently, Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration is their beef. I understand their point; they like the status quo and are concerned that they, their families, or their friends and classmates might get deported. President Trump was largely elected on this issue, and elections have consequences. Yet I’m glad to see them taking a stand.

I was picketed one time when I was DA. We had two mistrials on a young man for a drug case, so I said we’d try him again. The first trial, prosecuted by ADA George Hartwig, was 10-2 for conviction. George wasn’t able to try the second case, so I did it and the jury deadlocked 11-1 for conviction. So I figured the State was trending in the right direction. 

The young man’s family picketed, saying that two trials were enough. They had a point. So they picketed. They had a pop-up tent, I think, and little kids carrying signs. Local television stations covered it. The local papers covered it. I sent down drinks for them one day. They picketed for a few days, which I admired. 

I was a stubborn prosecutor, though, and simply wanted the young man to accept responsibility. I wasn’t looking for a lot of prison time, so the judge talked some sense into the young man, and I think he did a short-term stay in a diversion center. I hope he’s leading a good life now and that he realizes what his family did on his behalf.

But no, I’ve never been a picketer. However, if the right cause came along, I would. I have a long history of writing letters to the editor voicing my displeasure with things, starting in law school. Years later, Danny Evans, then-owner of the Houston Home Journal, let me start writing a column when I was District Attorney back in the late 1990s,  and I’ve been griping ever since. 

If the picketing kids will allow me to join them and ask them questions for an upcoming column, you might see me on Watson soon. 

Kelly Burke was born in Knoxville where he spent his younger years, followed by high school years in Atlanta where he graduated from Georgia Tech. He then graduated from Mercer Law School. He has been in private practice, a magistrate judge, and an elected district attorney. He writes about the law, politics, music and Ireland. He and his wife enjoy gardening, playing with their Lagotto Ramanolo named George Harrison, and spending time with their grandchildren.