The social consequences of having available remedies such as Bivens and the FTCA are significant. The sensation caused by the illegal federally sponsored research experiments on mentally disabled children sequestered for nearly 40 years and revealed only recently indicates the changes in public sentiments. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example.
Crime is contagious.
If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law, it invites every man to come a law unto himself. It invites anarchy. For America's Third Century . Clint Bolick Pacific Research Institute For Public Policy, San Francisco, CA 1990. First Amendment litigation concerning IRS tax exempt status for minority political and religious movements is also common.