Gonzales's Clemency Memos Criticized

[LiviaOlivia]

Gonzales's Clemency Memos Criticized
Crucial Facts Were Missing, Lawyers Say

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 6, 2005

<snip>

Senate hearings today on Gonzales's nomination to become the next U.S. attorney general are expected to focus on his work as White House counsel. But his memos for Bush on Texas clemency matters illustrate how Gonzales approached another momentous task: endorsing the taking of a life.

Several other attorneys for convicts executed in Texas during Bush's tenure -- who recently reviewed the memos for the first time at the request of The Washington Post -- complained that Gonzales provided unfair or incomplete summaries of evidence and mitigating circumstances. They said the missing information might have influenced Bush's decisions had he been aware of it.

<snip>

The Alliance for Justice, a coalition of 70 civil rights and other organizations, charged in a statement released yesterday that "the deficiencies in Gonzales' memoranda may have played a role in Bush's failure to grant clemency." They said his record on the issue, along with policies he embraced on the detention of prisoners in the war on terrorism, raised questions about "whether he can properly serve as the nation's chief law enforcement officer."

Besides the sole commutation, Bush granted a single 30-day death penalty reprieve, in a case that arose after Bush had appointed Gonzales to the Texas Supreme Court. In non-death-penalty cases, Bush granted 19 of the 149 pardons "for innocence" or compassion that were urged by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, an official review body for such requests. Scholars at the University of Pittsburgh have said that was the lowest number by any Texas governor since the 1940s.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51773-2005Jan5.html


Informative read. On edit: Henry Lee Lucas was the sole commutation.

[ogradda]

1. he's a heartless bastard.

no mercy or compassion here, folks.

[Ian David]

2. Texas Law

If they weren't guilty, they wouldn't have been arrested.

If they didn't deserve to die, they wouldn't be on death row.

We need a governor who is decisive. Who doesn't debate with himself.

[LeighAnn]

3. Stop Alberto Gonzales .com

Did you get that?

http://www.stopalbertogonzales.com

[diamond14]

4. a self-proclaimed PRO-LIFE bush* that the fundi-christians voted for.....

this hearing will bring out the real cruelty of bush* for those fundies to hear....ususally bush* mocks them before executing them....it thrills bush* so much to KILL.....

by comparison...MICHIGAN, a real PRO-LIFE Catholic State, has NEVER had a death penalty....they believe that it's cheaper to keep someone in prison forever, and have proved that over and over...and MICHIGAN has it's share of henious crimes, Detroit and Flint will take on Houston and Dallas anytime...

another Catholic, the Governor of Illinous, STOPPED ALL KILLING BY THE STATE after DNA tests showed many innocents on death row....



born-again fundie bush* is PRO-DEATH....

[daleo]

5. If Jesus couldn't get Bush to not kill people, who could?

Although I don't doubt that Gonzales did a shoddy job, based on his torture memos.

[LiviaOlivia]

6. Press Release from Alliance for Justice

Alliance for Justice Releases Gonzales Report and Lawyers' Letter; Both Raise Serious Concerns About Nomination for Attorney General

1/4/2005 2:33:00 PM

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Alliance for Justice released today a detailed report and lawyers' letter critical of the nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to be attorney general of the United States. Gonzales' record as White House counsel over the past four years, especially his role in formulating the policies that led to the torture of prisoners of war, raises fundamental questions about his fitness to serve as our nation's top law enforcement officer.

"Alberto Gonzales was the chief engineer behind the Bush administration's policy justifying the abusive treatment of prisoners of war," said Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron. "Gonzales wrote memos advocating the use of torture in defiance of the Geneva Conventions, international law and standards of human decency. He paved the way for the Bush administration to sidestep the rule of law that, as attorney general, he will be mandated to enforce."

Aron praised the unprecedented, bipartisan effort of over 300 prominent members of the legal community to demand Gonzales support an independent commission to investigate the detention and interrogation policies and practices of the United States. This group has long been insisting on the full disclosure of all memos related to torture -- a request that Gonzales has failed to meet.

"It is essential that an independent, bipartisan commission with full subpoena power be established to prepare a full account of detention and interrogation practices carried out by the United States," said John J. Curtin, Jr., former president of the American Bar Association. "Gonzales should be closely questioned about his record in these matters so that the Senate and the nation may determine his fitness to serve as attorney general of the United States."

"Gonzales has consistently pushed the limits of executive privilege in order to shield the Bush administration from oversight by Congress or scrutiny by the American people," added Aron. "The position of the country's top cop demands an impeccable level of integrity and commitment to the rule of law that Gonzales has not proven to possess." Aron noted other areas of concern in Gonzales' record, including his direct role as White House counsel in selecting extremist judicial nominees; and his cavalier treatment of clemency petitions in Texas death penalty cases while advising then- Governor George W. Bush.

"The Senate Judiciary Committee must thoroughly review all memos relating to torture written during Gonzales' tenure as White House counsel before voting on his nomination," Aron advocated, adding that the latest memo out of the Office of Legal Counsel does not alleviate her concerns.

Alliance for Justice's report on Alberto Gonzales and the lawyers' letter including the list of signatories can be found at http://www.allianceforjustice.org.


http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=41194