It was a moment in which it seemed a small measure of normalcy and decency was returned to our shared lives in Oak Park.
Federal prosecutors representing a Department of Justice that has been fully perverted by President Donald Trump did the actual right thing when they dismissed charges against Paul Ivery, a young Oak Park man with intellectual disabilities who had been caught up in protests at the ICE detention facility in Broadview.
By that time, though, Ivery had been arrested, interrogated, held in custody for four nights before he finally faced a humane Northern District of Illinois judge who derided prosecutors for insisting on harsh conditions for a pretrial release. Judge Gabriel Fuentes certainly telegraphed his views to prosecutors when he ordered Ivery immediately released pending trial.
A week later, saying they had finally reviewed Ivery’s disabilities, the feds dropped the charges. The judge thanked them. He also thanked the federal public defender for his compassionate defense of Mr. Avery. And he acknowledged the impact that a rising tide of Oak Park support had on him. Never doubt that judges read the letters of support that are submitted to them, he said.
We are in a moment when cruelty is the currency of the Trump administration. In this single instance we see some sign that all is not lost in pursuing American values this vital village shares.