Intimidation Into Silence

Intimidation Into Silence

By

Leonard Zwelling

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/opinion/judges-courts-threats-fear.html

In this newsletter piece from The New York Times on August 7, David French goes to great lengths to outline the pressure under which federal judges are operating in the face of MAGA intimidation. Many have suffered credible threats to their lives and the lives of their families due to their rulings, especially the ones against President Trump.

Here are some germane excerpts:

Peter Meijer, a former Republican member of Congress, told The Atlantic that the chief reason Republicans didn’t confront Trump in the aftermath of Jan. 6 was fear: “People are afraid for their safety. They are afraid for their careers. Above all, they are afraid of fighting a losing battle in an empty foxhole.”

I’m reminded of recent comments from Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who will, sometimes, stand up to Trump. At a conference in Anchorage in April, she said, “We are all afraid.”

“We’re in a time and place where — I don’t know, I certainly have not — I have not been here before,” she added. “And I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real.”

I’m often asked by people what concrete thing they can do to try to shorten the darkness, to stand against hatred in this dangerous moment. Here’s one response: Stand up for good people under fire. Private messages are important, but even the simple act of posting public support (or offering other forms of public aid) can help mitigate the damage. It tells a person that he or she is not alone and that decency is not dead.

You might be asking what does any of this have to do with me?

If you work at MD Anderson, the answer is a great deal. Fear is everywhere. It permeates faculty meetings. It is the dominant force in meetings of the President’s Advisory Council. It prevents any meaningful input. There is no truth being spoken to power.

There have been far too many arbitrary firings and disciplinary actions by President Pisters and his Executive Leadership team. They flout the Faculty Senate and the faculty in general. They do not believe in shared governance of any kind and now, with the action of the state legislature, the Faculty Senate is no more. Surely President Pisters could create a true advisory role for the current Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate that he actually listens to, let alone meets with. This is not likely to occur now that the state has said it does not have to.

All this blog entry is asking is that when a colleague is treated unfairly, when another faculty member is threatened with expulsion or salary loss, or when a department chair or Division Head wields his or her power in an injudicious manner, the rest of the faculty speak up.

I know I come back to this incident a great deal, but during a town hall with then-Vice Chancellor for Health Affair Ken Shine, then faculty member Fred Lange accused the leadership of MD Anderson of considering the clinical faculty its “ATM.” Fred is now a department chair himself and Ken Shine is long gone, but the fact that Fred spoke truth to power cannot be lost on the faculty today. It was a stunning moment of absolute clarity that should be emulated at every town hall whether it be on faculty compensation, professionalism, or post-retirement health insurance.

For goodness sake MD Anderson faculty, speak up. If you won’t speak up for yourselves, you will only have yourselves to blame if your professional lives get worse. It’s up to you.