"Just Stop. Be Kind": When Courts Fail, Caregivers Need State-Level Guardrails
- Mark Fukae
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Part IV of 21st Century Guardrails examines judicial retreat, unauthorized war's economic impact, and why the Colorado CARE Act is constitutional architecture.
By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy | Professionals Who Care
My wife taught me a lesson years ago that changed how I approach caregiving:
Just stop. Be kind.
I was in the early phase of caring for my mother with dementia, when I still thought clarity was the right response to confusion.
She'd say something that wasn't quite right, and I'd gently, carefully correct her.
My wife watched me do this for a while.
Then one evening, she said it: Just stop. Be kind.
Meet her where she is, not where I think she should be.
I think about that lesson every time I watch Washington fail to do the same thing for families.
The Constitutional Architecture Is Failing
For most of American history, courts functioned as institutional ballast-keeping the constitutional ship level even when political storms raged.
When presidents overreached: not that far.
When Congress abdicated: you can't hand that away.
When agencies weaponized authority: show your work.
The ballast has shifted.
The Supreme Court has embraced unitary executive theory through Seila Law, the 2024 presidential immunity ruling, and potential overturning of Humphrey's Executor-the 90-year precedent allowing independent agencies.
If Humphrey's Executor falls, the president gains removal power over FTC, NLRB, FCC, and agencies families depend on.
What we have now: executive acts first, Congress performs outrage, courts arrive after damage and call it legal.
What Happened This Week
Feb 28: U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran (Operation Epic Fury) without congressional authorization
Mar 4: Senate War Powers Resolution failed 47–53
Mar 5: House War Powers Resolution failed 212–219
Courts: Silent
Six service members killed. Defense Secretary says operation could last 8 weeks.
Courts treat military action as "political question"-not our problem.
War continues: no authorization vote, no declaration, no judicial checkpoint.
The Economic Shock Lands on Caregivers
Strait of Hormuz (20% of world's oil): Closed. 150+ tankers stranded.
Oil: +10%
Fertilizer: +35% (Egyptian urea, one week)
Projected inflation: 2.4% → 3% by year-end
LNG: Qatar halted production, European gas futures doubled
DHS shutdown (since Feb 14): TSA workers approaching first missed paycheck, FEMA can't pay disaster recovery, CISA (cybersecurity) at limited capacity during war
Every number lands on caregivers.
Gas tanks for medical appointments. Medication through disrupted supply chains. Household budgets already stretched. Veterans coming home with PTSD and TBI.
When guardrails fail at the top, the fall lands at the bottom.
Why Caregivers Are the Diagnostic Class
PWC members know this from lived experience:
When federal systems fail, consequences land on families first.
Veteran disability claims stalled (agency reorganized during shutdown).
Medicaid renewals delayed (court vacated federal rule).
Second and third deployments (war without vote continues without endgame).
Employed caregivers losing jobs (no accommodations required, no protection).
Caregivers experience institutional failure first.
Colorado Cannot Fix the Supreme Court
I want to be clear about this, because clarity matters in legislative meetings.
Colorado cannot restore war powers enforcement.Colorado cannot compel courts to show up. Colorado cannot prevent shadow docket erosion of family rights.
What Colorado can do: build the infrastructure federal courts aren't building.
We can use state police powers (health, safety, welfare) to construct state-level architecture that:
Absorbs shock when Washington fails
Sustains people doing work the system ignores
Holds the line on rights federal courts have made unstable
Not defiance. Federalism.
What the framers meant when they reserved powers to states.
The CARE Act: Three Functions
1. Shock Absorber
When war drives energy toward $100 per barrel, families absorb cost. CARE Act ensures caregivers don't lose jobs while carrying that weight.
Workplace protection equals economic stabilization.
2. Caregiving Infrastructure
More war casualties equals more veterans with invisible injuries equals more families needing caregiving.
DHS can shut down. Courts can retreat. Congress can deadlock.
Caregiver gets up anyway.
CARE Act: we see that work, recognize it, protect it.
3. Constitutional Guardrail
Federal courts allowed rights to become unstable. Sotomayor: "No right is safe in the new legal regime."
Colorado creates stable, enforceable caregiver protections at state level-don't depend on federal judiciary that repeatedly fails families.
What Repair Looks Like
Repair equals restoring function courts were supposed to perform.
That function is underperformed federally.
Colorado has authority to perform it at state level.
CARE Act built at exactly that level:
State police powers
CADA framework
Zero general fund appropriation
Medicaid savings projections
Designed to function regardless of Washington.
The Redirect
When I learned to redirect instead of correct, I wasn't giving up on reality.
I was accepting the path back didn't run through argument.
It ran through patience. Presence. Small moments of stability.
That's what CARE Act asks Colorado to do.
Federal courts won't build this.War won't pause while we wait.
So we build it ourselves.
That's what states are for.That's what PWC members already know.
Take Action
Sign the Petition: https://chng.it/DLWncS9wtT
Join PWC: https://professionalswhocare.org
Contact legislators: https://leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator
Part V: Repair the Legislature - next week
Comments