Tags: freedom | united kingdom
OPINION

UK Reminds Us of the Fragility of Freedom

a man in a suit scratching his head and looking at logos for the republican and democratic parties
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Michael Dorstewitz By Monday, 31 March 2025 01:26 PM EDT Current | Bio | Archive

The following opinion column does not represent the support of any political party or specific candidates on the part of Newsmax.

Anyone who has the opportunity to go to the polls tomorrow to vote in a special election should consider what’s going on in the United Kingdom right now to get a taste of how important elections are here.

Freedom of Speech:

The Metro, a British newspaper, reported over the weekend that a U.K. couple was arrested earlier this year on suspicion of harassment and malicious communications.

The couple, Maxie Allen, a Times Radio producer, and Rosalind Levine, a British TV producer, both in their 40s, have two daughters — Sascha, a special needs child with epilepsy, and Francesca.

The “harassment and malicious communications” consisted of Allen, a former school governor, wondering on social media why the school wasn’t recruiting to replace a retiring headteacher.

He said the arrest that followed was nightmarish.

“We’d never used abusive or threatening language, even in private, and always followed due process,” Allen told the Metro. “Yet we have never even been told what these communications were that were supposedly criminal, which is completely Kafkaesque.”

British author and journalist Matt Goodwin posted video of the officers approaching the home, and added his own commentary:

“I cannot remember the last time I saw six police officers together in Britain. But here they are, arresting two parents, in front of their children, for complaining about their local school in a Whatsapp group,” he said. “Britain is completely and utterly lost. It used to be the home of individual liberty; now it’s morphing before our very eyes into an Orwellian nightmare. We need a political revolution to restore common sense. And we need it now.”

Levine offered her own play-by-play of the incident.

“I saw six police officers standing there,” she said. “There were two cars and a police van. My first thought was that Sascha was dead. I could not think of any other reason why six police officers would be at my door. Francesca was cowering in the corner, she was terrified.”

But that can’t happen here, can it?

Remember during the last administration when then-Attorney General Merrick Garland designated parents speaking up at school board meetings as possible “domestic terrorists” and told the FBI to investigate?

Equal Treatment Under the Law:

The weekend brought another piece of news about UK justice. Beginning tomorrow, the United Kingdom will officially have a two-tier justice system.

The UK Sentencing Council announced that as of April 1, white Christian men will receive stiffer penalties than will women, people of color, and nonChristians (think Muslim) for the exact same crime.

As of yesterday members of Parliament vowed to introduce legislation to override the Sentencing Council, but nothing can be done by them before the new sentencing rules take place.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was asked twice if he would “scrap” the Sentencing Council altogether, which would immediately put an end to the new guidelines. All he would say is that “all options are on the table.”

Anyone who believes a two-tier justice system couldn’t happen here hasn’t been paying attention to how the January 6 defendants have been treated, or the lawfare directed against President Trump for the last four years.

That’s how fragile our rights and freedoms are and how fragile our country is. Republicans proved they could save the country on November 5, and tomorrow some of us will have a chance to do it again.

Wisconsin will elect a new state Supreme Court Justice who will determine whether the court will be majority conservative or liberal. Conservative Brad Schimel is a former state attorney general and a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and liberal Susan Crawford is a Dane County Circuit Court judge.

They’ve been consistently running neck-and-neck, and the election would likely affect two congressional seats as well as Wisconsin’s swing state status.

There are also two special elections in Florida, for Congressional Districts 1 and 4.

In District 1 Republican Jimmy Patronis will meet Democrat Gay Valimont to fill a seat vacated by former Rep. Matt Gaetz. In District 4 the contest is between Republican Randy Fine and Democrat Josh Weil. That seat was formerly held by Mike Waltz, before Trump appointed him as his National Security Adviser.

Although these are both strong Republican districts, Democrats are outspending Republicans by as much as 8-to-1.

Also, in the District 4 race, Fine came under fire by conservative Republicans when he served in the Florida Senate.

These are all important races for not just Republicans, but for our values as Americans. If you have any doubt as to how fragile those values and our rights are, look into what’s happening in the U.K. and vote accordingly.

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


MichaelDorstewitz
Anyone who has the opportunity to go to the polls tomorrow to vote in a special election should consider what's going on in the United Kingdom...
freedom, united kingdom
824
2025-26-31
Monday, 31 March 2025 01:26 PM
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