This is one in an occasional series.
There are some people who stay quiet when the stuff hits the fan, people who bow down to authority and refuse to take any risks or point out that the emperor has no clothes. It’s understandable—toe the line, do what you're told, stay out of trouble, try to keep your life from getting upended.
One heroine willing to stand up to the powers that be, however, is Los Angeles lawyer and mom Julie Hamill, who's currently on a one-woman mission to hold to account the officials responsible for the draconian, destructive COVID policies in the City of Angels.
"Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer leveraged relationships with Rep. Adam Schiff in an effort to bully Twitter into silencing critics of her universal mask mandate in July 2022.
— Will Swaim (@WillSwaim) August 6, 2023
"Schiff’s role, part of Ferrer’s broader campaign to suppress her critics,…
"Schiff’s role, part of Ferrer’s broader campaign to suppress her critics, is described in a remarkable July 26 court filing by attorney Julie Hamill of the Alliance of Los Angeles County Parents."
Hamill is suing Ferrer and the Health Department and is doing so all on her own, albeit supported by the kindness of strangers.
The unscientific rulings by Not-a-Medical-Doctor Director of the L.A. County Department of Health Barbara Ferrer disrupted countless lives (population of L.A. County—almost 10 million) and set back a generation of kids. The pandemic is over, but the effects of the insane power grabs of our governmental officials are still being felt today. In a Kafkaesque twist, those terrible decisions are no longer part of Hamill's lawsuit since “just following orders” seems to absolve bureaucrats of most consequences. This post by Hamill explains exactly how that works.
Start listening at 17:00 if you want to hear about the "perfect shell game" used by government defendants across the country, which allowed @lapublichealth to dismiss the Alliance's challenge to arbitrary and capricious health mandates. Defendants say "this is per se reasonable…
— Julie Hamill (@hamill_law) May 28, 2023
Start listening at 17:00 if you want to hear about the "perfect shell game" used by government defendants across the country, which allowed @lapublichealth to dismiss the Alliance's challenge to arbitrary and capricious health mandates. Defendants say "this is per se reasonable because we're relying on CDC guidance." Then when you challenge CDC guidance, defendants (the gov) say "You can't challenge the guidance, because the guidance isn't binding on anyone. You can only bring legal actions against final action." Thank you @ToddZywicki and @ScottAtlas_IT for this critical interview. I hope law students across the country watch and learn so we can have some semblance of hope for restoring civil liberties going forward. This is one issue we will be dealing with on appeal. For now, we still have our free speech claims. For more on our case go to
http://laparents.org
https://youtu.be/4koz_HQBFQg?t=1012
One action in the lawsuit remains, however—the free speech angle. Hamill and the Alliance of LA County Parents have been totally transparent, sharing every document and step of the way on the group’s website.
I'm proud to stand with @hamill_law who is fighting for @LACountyParents in their free speech action against @lapublichealth. She'll be with @Johnnydontlike on @KABCRadio today at 2:00 to discuss the 🔥🔥🔥 from her deposition of their Communications Director. I have thoughts 1… pic.twitter.com/NTKJQILcRT
— Roxanne Hoge (@RoxanneHoge) July 13, 2023
Here is where I pause to say that yes, the Roxanne Hoge quoted and pictured above is my wife, and yes, I’ve met Julie Hamill in person, and yes, I am one of countless parents who watched their kids suffer needlessly under the tyranny of an unelected but very well-paid bureaucrat. Also, yes, my request to the communications department of LA County’s Public Health Department for examples of the threats they claimed justified locking out the public went unanswered. (The request turned up in discovery, however, which was a little creepy. They couldn't be bothered to answer a legitimate question from the press—but it's clear they received it.)
See: LA County Health Department Doesn't Want to Hear From You, Turns off Social Media Comments
Hamill, a parent of three young kids, could have just gone along with the endless mask mandates and school lockdowns imposed by Ferrer and lived happily with her attorney husband and simply enjoyed the sunshine in Palos Verdes, where she serves as an elected school board member and fights against the crazy politicization of education by the state.
But instead, she's become the face and the voice for what my colleague Jennifer O’Connell called an Underground Moms Group:
Oh look, Babs Ferrer at @lapublichealth is having a change of heart about masks. It’s totally not because @jenvanlaar just exposed her as a fraudulent, nepotistic, control freak. It’s totally about the science. pic.twitter.com/UfXVLQNDnk
— Rosie Memos (@almostjingo) July 26, 2022
RedState Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar sounded the alarm about Ferrer, the $600,000+ woman, back in 2020 and has never let up.
See: Don't Be Fooled: LA Public Health Director is an Activist Using "The Data" to Advance an Agenda
Hamill has been bullied by a team of high-priced lawyers (hired by the County of LA with its $38 BILLION “recommended budget,” even though they already have an office of County Counsel). The lawyer from powerhouse firm Sheppard Mullin has repeatedly tried to enter photos and descriptions of her minor children into their filings—for no apparent justifiable reason.
It's Intimidation 101, pure and simple, and it's abhorrent.
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors should be both embarrassed and horrified by the tactics of the law firm they've hired with our tax dollars to fight a lawsuit by parents seeking to protect their kids. This is child endangerment. @kathrynbarger @SupJaniceHahn @SaveLACounty https://t.co/mtNLCNYVuv
— Susan Shelley (@Susan_Shelley) September 6, 2023
Hamill's above tweet continues:
Does the @LACountyBOS support mafia tactics on lawyers working to enforce a constitutional right? WHERE IS THE ADULT IN THE ROOM?
Her plaintiffs have been accused of being a danger, harassed by process servers although represented by counsel, lied about, and my own wife ended up in tears after the county's lawyer repeatedly tried to read our home address into the record. For what purpose?!
You might say, Well, all that’s over now—who cares, the dark days of the pandemic are in the rear-view mirror. For one, as COVID cases have shown a slight uptick lately, you can almost hear Ferrer, Dr. Fauci, and others salivating at the thought of imposing new mandates. It seems to be their raison d'être.
But Hamill is taking action to make sure such gross government overreach never happens again. The recent rulings in Missouri v. Biden make it clear that citizens and residents not only have a right to express free speech, but they also have a right to hear speech. Our government's leaning on social media companies to censor runs afoul of the Constitution.
Attorney Hamill does all this, facing real harm and losing time with her family, on behalf of a ragtag group of parents fighting an indefensible act taken by government functionaries and elected representatives. She's fighting for what's right, and that makes her a hero in my eyes.
To Julie and all the underground moms out there, I salute you.
This is part of a series about everyday heroes that don’t necessarily make the front pages. It’s a chance to talk about something other than Joe’s mumblings and Hunter’s depravity.
I’m inviting readers to send me stories of people they know or who they’ve read about who have done heroic acts—large or small, physical or otherwise—that have made someone’s life better or saved them from danger. Please email me with any tips at [email protected] or DM me on Twitter. Thanks!
Previously-->
Hoge’s Heroes: Hawaiian Man Travels 13 Miles on Bicycle Through Wildfire Hell to Save Grandma
Hoge's Heroes: Pregnant Driver Evacuates 37 Kids off School Bus—just Before It's Engulfed in Flames
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