Government

DOJ Lawyer Says Words Taken Out Of Context... In Hour-Long Videotaped Hearing We All Watched

The lawyer is asking for forgiveness and doesn't deserve any.

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Apparently, Sarah Fabian has taken to her Facebook wall to defend herself against the slings and arrows that she’s facing after appearing before an incredulous panel of the Ninth Circuit and arguing that, maybe, immigrant kids don’t deserve basic human dignity.

It’s time to fire up the world’s tiniest violin.

“I think that many many people believe I was in court Tuesday arguing against providing certain hygiene items to kids,” the lawyer wrote. “I do not believe that’s the position I was representing. … I will say that I personally believe that we should do our very best to care for kids while they are in our custody, and I try to always represent that value in my work.”

Many people believe that because they, you know, watched it happen. In Fabian’s defense, she may not have set out to ride or die on the “no beds” argument, but when she was pushed by the panel… that’s where she went. Where we go with our backs against the wall is arguably the most telling and when asked if there would ever be a scenario where it might be acceptable to subject children to human rights abuses, she cobbled together a bunch of exceptions that had no basis in reality except to provide a legal fig leaf to the travesty at the border.

She literally argued that the words “safe and sanitary” might not include soap or beds.

“I’m not going to try in vain to fight back against that other than to try to look out for my own safety and to hope that people take it easy on my family,” she wrote. “I think I share many people’s anger and fear at times over the future of our country, and I want to work to make it better too.”

First of all, she doesn’t deserve to be threatened over doing her job. People and their families shouldn’t be made to feel unsafe for just wanting a secure life for their loved ones. But painfully poignant irony aside, this whole “I’m not engaging”-as-defense trend needs to stop. It’s a private post to your friends! Feel free to defend yourself in that forum and if you can’t, don’t give us the whole “I could explain myself, but that would be letting the terrorists win” malarkey.

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If you share everyone’s anger, go get another job. Main Justice is a perfectly reasonable career launching point — get your résumé out there.

But she won’t because there aren’t many jobs that let you keep children crying for their parents at night while you go f**king dog sitting. Fabian’s made her stance. She can hedge around what she “meant” to say all she wants, but she’s been carrying water for increasingly inhumane policies for the sake of her personal comfort for years. That’s where she stands. Facebook posts aren’t going to change that.

Justice Department lawyer defends herself after viral video on child migrant treatment [NBC News]
DOJ Lawyer Who Said Migrant Kids Don’t Need Soap Says Words Taken Out Of Context [Huffington Post]

Earlier: DOJ Lawyer Earns 15 Minutes Of Infamy Arguing In Front Of Exactly The Wrong Panel

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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