HORTON: Reversing Course at Justice

[L. Coyote]

".... Office of Legal Counsel will cease directing criminal conspiracies..."

No Comment
By Scott Horton
February 2, 9:02 AM
Reversing Course at Justice
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/02/hbc-90004327

Neil Lewis of the New York Times takes a look at what we can expect from a Justice Department headed by Eric Holder, who is likely to be confirmed as attorney general later today. The findings: the laws will be enforced, the Constitution will be considered binding, the government will take its commitments to the global community seriously. The Bush Administration’s guiding principle of omertà will fade in favor of public accountability for the acts of public servants. The Civil Rights Division will actually resume enforcement of civil rights legislation. The Office of Legal Counsel will cease directing criminal conspiracies and will instead issue level-headed legal advice driven by respect for the rule of law. Lewis points to some of the litigation positions in place that Holder will want to reconsider. The state secrets doctrine, for instance, has existed at least since the administration of Thomas Jefferson. But roughly 90 percent of all in-court invocations of this doctrine from the founding of the American Republic through today occurred during the Bush Administration. Something is seriously wrong with this picture, since the claim of state secrets now almost invariably occurs to cloak some embarrassing, and often criminal, conduct in which the administration engaged .....

[pleah]

1. I am seriously hoping that Holder will clean up at least some of the

mess and maybe, just maybe, put a few in prison.

K&R

[pnorman]

2. The state secrets doctrine

"The state secrets doctrine, for instance, has existed at least since the administration of Thomas Jefferson. But roughly 90 percent of all in-court invocations of this doctrine from the founding of the American Republic through today occurred during the Bush Administration."

Like others here on DU, I knew that Bush had abused that doctrine to an alarming degree, but I had NO idea that the percentage was so high!

pnorman