My new column for The Hill asks how much longer decent people can keep working for Robert F. Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services, while the boss continues to undermine medical research and destabilize science. A tragic story from the 1850s, about a federal commissioner under the Fugitive Slave Act, provides a cautionary lesson. Here is the gist:
Credible scientists can’t hold up Kennedy’s charade for much longer
How much longer can responsible people work for President Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services under the leadership of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.?
That question arises every time Kennedy pulls funding for vaccine research or purges respected scientists.
There is no single answer to whether an official should stay or withdraw from a compromising position, but history does provide cautionary tales.
[In 1854], a fugitive from slavery named Anthony Burns, was arrested in Boston and brought before [Judge Edward] Loring, a federal commissioner under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
“It is said that the statute is so cruel and wicked that it should not be executed by good men,” [Loring] wrote. But [if] humane judges were all to resign, “then into what hands should its administration fall? Will those who call the statute merciless commit it to a merciless judge?”
Despite his protestations, Loring ruled in favor of the slaveholder, holding that it was required under the law. He sent Burns to Virginia in chains.
Loring is remembered today, if at all, as an enabler of slavery.
Perhaps health officials are currently echoing Loring’s lament. “If I resign, someone very bad will take my place.” But sometimes, complicity is complicity.
You can read the full essay at The Hill, including much more about Judge Loring’s rationalization for enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act.
Posted by Steve Lubet on August 18, 2025 at 12:04 PM