The Fine Print | Notes from the Legal Director
April 11, 2025 | Huma Khan
A society that values the rule of law and its equitable application is a society that is protected from the tyranny of the majority, the tyranny of small-minded prejudice, and the tyranny of those who will brook no dissent. As Americans, we pride ourselves, boastfully so, on being a nation founded by those who sought to protect the rule of law from being distorted and misused by those in power.
We are now witnessing what a society which fails to uphold the rule of law looks like. It looks like the termination of SEVIS records and the revocation of student visas without cause, notice, or opportunity to be heard. It looks like Mahmood Khalil, baselessly taken into ICE custody and initially denied access to his family and attorney. It looks like Rumeysa Ozturk, detained by ICE agents without cause, and taken to a Louisiana detention facility known for its inhumane conditions2. It looks like federal agencies pressuring universities to hand over information on student’s engaging in their fundamental right to assemble. It looks like houses of worship and charitable institutions being targeted with false accusations of material support for terrorism. The list goes on.
Having a justice system which guarantees access and equitable application of the law to all is the a fundamental pillar of democracy. A justice system which guarantees it will uphold the rule of law forces individuals, private actors, and government entities to engage that system when seeking to enforce rights or fulfill obligations. It forces open debate to be presented in the halls of the judiciary, where discerning minds under the watchful eye of the public resolve disputes and defend the law.
Preventing any group, whether they be citizen by birth, immigrant, visitor, criminal, or upstanding citizen access to the courts or the right to an equitable application of the law can never be tolerated.
When such an injustice is allowed to continue, corruption is imbibed into the very heart of our society. The act of tolerating such a thing takes us from democracy, transparency, truth, justice, equity, and excellence to something else entirely. We cannot claim to uphold any of these virtues if we limit access to justice to those in power and deny it to those who dissent. Parading our virtue in moments like these is hypocritical and disingenuous. Miserably, the very act of such a sabotage not only robs the actor of all virtue, but it destroys the very thing that actor deems so valuable, a justice system which upholds our democratic principles.
The Fine Print | Real power and protection is always hidden in the fine print. MLFA brings the fine print to life with this series of articles, cutting through the noise to break down the rights, risks, and realities you need to know. No loopholes, no confusion, just clear, unapologetic insight into the laws that shape the lives of Muslims in America.
